His Last Request
by QueenStrata
Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.
1. Chapter 1: One Last Reason to Exist

A/N: This first chapter has actually been done for like…a week. Which is kind of sad for me, considering how quickly I usually post things. But this means I got a chance to check and recheck for errors and whatnot, so rejoice! Maybe it'll actually be readable for once….

At any rate, this is going to be like…really seriously long. SERIOUSLY. I have no idea how long, but it's going to take a while to finish. But it should get done because it's my babyyyyy. And I'm on the third chapter already. Go me! D Now, onwards!

Warnings: Yaoi. Maybe kind of dark. Bad words galore. You know, the usual. (Oh and maybe some het. I haven't decided that yet.)

Disclaimer: Squaresoft and Disney OWN MY SOUL. Or at least they own Kingdom Hearts. Which I don't own. And I'm not getting paid to write this fic. Yeah.

Summary: AU. AkuRoku. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

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_Chapter One: One Last Reason to Exist_

Sometimes, Roxas really fucking hated his looks. It wasn't that he thought he was unattractive, it was that he'd always thought he looked too...innocent. Not that there was anything wrong with it, per se, it could work for some people, people like his brother. But it didn't match his personality, the bruises that decorated his body, the strut in his walk.

And it especially didn't match his current environment.

Nothing about him did, not in the Underground. He was too expensive--designer jeans, designer sunglasses, designer trenchcoat. He wasn't rich, but his father made sure he dressed like he was, and Roxas would not begrudge whatever kindness the man saw fit to bestow on him. But as he walked across the faded tiles, dodging drug addicts, perverts, and whores alike, he knew he stuck out like a sore thumb (pardon the cliche). But something about him must have kept the really dangerous people away, because he wasn't approached by anyone sober. Feigning confidence did more for him than he'd ever thought it would.

Or maybe something about his intentions could be seen by those intelligent enough to pay attention. Maybe they thought _he_ was the dangerous one. To come to this place, making his way to the eighth room on the thirteenth floor, to see the man he was about to see...

He'd heard rumors of the Organization. Rumors that sent shivers down his spine, that were only spread in whispers...just in case. Because it was said that if you talked about the Organization, you would be dead within twenty-four hours. It had happened before. And this man who called himself Ares was whispered to be one of them. Whether he was or not, the boy didn't care. All that mattered was that this man get the job done, and he was one of the few who didn't mind killing his employers in the process.

He didn't stop when he reached the door, though he knew he should. He didn't have time for warnings or common courtesy; he needed to be in and out fast enough that nobody would have ever guessed he was there. He heard startled gasps behind him, knew immediately that he'd done something stupid, and moved anyway until the door was closed behind him and a spike was pointed at his throat. He stared at it for a moment, before allowing his eyes to follow the curve of the weapon to the hand that held tightly to the middle of it, skimming over the arm to look up (and up) and into the greenest eyes he'd ever seen in his life.

Those eyes stared coldly into his own for a moment before widening slightly in surprise and sliding slowly down his body. Roxas got the distinct feeling that he was being undressed and he shifted uncomfortably, causing the man's eyes to snap back up to his own. He leaned back casually, arm raising the chakram perilously close to his spiky hair, and smirked.

"Hasn't anybody ever told you to knock, kid?" the man asked, voice insincere. "I'd hate to kill you before I…got to know you."

"I want to hire you," Roxas said coldly, ignoring the mocking words and refusing to pay attention to the way the man had emphasized the last part of his sentence. It didn't matter.

"I don't come cheap," the man drawled, and the smirk evolved into a leer that made Roxas scowl.

"I can afford it. Whatever you need. I won't need any munny where I'm going."

"And where is it that you're going, hm?"

"To Hell, probably."

The man's eyebrows shot for his hairline, but he didn't comment. He just turned his back and walked around the table to the cushiony chair behind it, gesturing for Roxas to have a seat as well. There were three chairs for him to choose from: one was off to the right and looked sinfully soft; one was to the left, straight-backed and wooden; one was in the middle, the perfect mirror of the one the redheaded man had settled himself in, and facing him head on. Roxas knew this was a test, somehow, that where he sat down would dictate how the man treated him. He knew better than to seat himself in sin, though the thought was apt, and didn't know which of the other two would be preferred. He hesitated for a moment, considering the chair at the right because _none of this mattered_, and then settled himself in the middle to face his future head on.

The man called Ares smiled and flipped open a notebook, pen already in hand.

"All right, then. I need details. Who, when, and where?"

"One week from now," Roxas said softly, watching as Ares' hand flew over the paper. "My dad, myself. I want my entire house burnt down, nothing left except ashes. But…."

"But?"

"My brother will be home. He has to make it out alive." Roxas hesitated, aware that he was admitting a weakness, and gripped the arms of his chair. "I'm doing this for him, and there won't be any point to it if he's dead as well."

"You're starting to make things complicated, kid," the man said, but there was a gleam in his eyes that Roxas took to mean he was enjoying the concept of a challenge. "If you want to make exceptions, you should be doing this yourself."

"I can't." The man tilted his head, curious, and Roxas gritted his teeth, knuckles turning white, and continued. "I couldn't kill myself. I've thought about it, more than I should. And it's not something I could do directly. But if I get someone else to do it for me…."

"If you don't want to die, why are you hiring me to kill you? You could just disappear. Well, you could have if you hadn't already seen my face at least."

"I have nowhere to go. There would be questions, and I'm not old enough to live on my own. And it's best for S—my brother. It's best for him if I disappear completely. I'll only hold him back. I always have."

The man leaned forward, glittering eyes holding Roxas in place though he suddenly wanted to run, and folded his hands on his desk. "You wouldn't have to die. You've got spunk, kid, determination. Nobody around here will give a fuck where you come from, why you're here." He stood slowly from his seat, leaning over the desk until his face was uncomfortably close to Roxas' "I could make it look like you've died, got a friend who could make a perfect replica of you and plant it in your bed so nobody would think you'd run off. Your brother would never know. I could take care of you."

"You just want to have sex with me," Roxas accused quietly, proud of how apathetic his voice remained. The taller man threw his head back and laughed, a rough sound that the blond found himself liking, and leered down at him.

"Sounds like a nice bonus. You offering?"

"Don't flatter yourself."

The leer faded back into a cocky smirk and the man leaned in even further, Roxas refusing to move away even the slightest bit. "I like you, kid, I really do. You're not stupid, but you're not a coward either. We could use another member, and I can promise that you wouldn't regret the decision. And, hey, if the others didn't want you around…well, you'll end up dead either way. What do you say?"

"Who, exactly, is we?" Roxas was intrigued, though he knew he was being hustled by a right bastard. And maybe, just maybe, he was a little bit attracted.

"Agree, and I'll let you know." The man's breath smelled of mints, and his eyes were almost hypnotizing. Long fingers were in Roxas' hair, and he leaned forward just a little, just enough to tease, but not enough that it was an invitation.

"One condition," he murmured softly, and almost smiled. "If these people don't like me…you'll be the one to kill me. It's part of what I'm paying you for anyway."

"Sure thing, kid." The redhead moved back slowly, his fingers trailing down the back of Roxas' head and across his neck, and settled himself back in his chair comfortably. He licked his lips and grinned in satisfaction. "I think the Organization will welcome you with open arms—as much as they welcome anyone."

Roxas swore he felt his heart skip a beat, though he wasn't sure if it was due to the man's blatant desire for him or the mention of the gang he'd been whispered warnings about on his search for what he needed. Maybe it was a bit of both, but at this point it truly didn't matter, just like he'd been telling himself all along. He was in too deep already.

"Plan's simple. We'll have to wait for everyone to be asleep, of course, and then my friend will come in through your window to get you out and switch you with the doll. You'll run off with him and we'll light the place up—do you and your brother share a room?"

"No."

"Great! Throw a Molotov cocktail through your window, and if it lands where it should, it'll burn your replica almost beyond recognition. Doesn't matter, really, they'll assume it's you anyway. We can get someone else to just _happens_ to be going by to hear the crash, to see a few shadowy figures running away, and hopefully to hear your brother screaming. He'll run in, at great risk to his own person of course, to save him, but by the time they're out it'll be too late to get in and save your dad."

"…And you're sure this is going to work?" Roxas asked skeptically.

"Hey, I do this shit for a living. I got it covered. And anything that goes wrong will be dealt with. The Organization won't leave a trace behind, I assure you. In and out, kid. You'll be gone, either dead or a member, and your precious sibling will grieve and move on. There will be no leads for the police to follow, no trace of any of us left behind. Trust me."

"Okay," Roxas said tightly, frowning at the man's confident smile. "How will I recognize your friend?"

"Well, he looks crazy, for one," Ares chuckled. "And he'll have the tattoo on the back of his neck."

"A lot of crazy-looking people have tattoos on the back of their neck," the blond sneered.

"But none of them are stupid enough to try to pass themselves off as a member of the Organization. Not if they value their lives. We've branded ourselves, kid, and you'll get one too if you pass. The Organization's symbol and a roman numeral. Simple, elegant, and hidden."

"I don't know what your symbol looks like," Roxas returned easily, shrugging. "I've only heard whispers. Nobody's shown me anything."

"Well, they're smarter than I give them credit for," the tall man muttered and stood from his seat. His hands undid his own belt swiftly and Roxas heard himself squeak embarrassingly, scooting the chair he was sitting in across the floor to distance himself.

"What are you doing?" he snarled, and glared daggers as the man paused to laugh.

"Relax, kid, I'm just going to show you what the thing looks like."

Roxas' mind ran through all the possibilities as the zipper was lowered and he realized that the man was wearing _no underwear_. "If it's on your dick," he said quickly, scooting back even farther, "I really don't want to know." But he didn't close his eyes.

"You take me for some sort of masochist?" the redheaded man snickered, and turned to his left so that his right side was in Roxas' view. "If it'll make you more comfortable, I can hold a piece of paper up to my bits so I don't blind your poor virgin eyes."

"Shut up," Roxas snarled, and sat straight again so he didn't look like he was scared, but he knew his cheeks were pink with embarrassment. And the man was smiling at him—not the cocky smirk or the perverted leer, but a soft, genuine smile—and he sort of wished he hadn't been meeting this man under these circumstances.

Ares cooperated nicely, not saying a word as he lowered the side of his pants enough that Roxas could see the red and black mark on his hip. He licked his lips unconsciously (the man's breath seemed to hitch, though Roxas may have just been imagining it) and leaned forward to inspect it. He couldn't even begin to describe the background, it being all spikes and what looked like the top of a heart but upside down, but he recognized the numerals instantly. VIII. Number eight.

He kind of wanted to touch it, to make sure the skin was as smooth as it looked, because except for the startling triangles on this man's face, he'd never seen a tattoo before. But he held back the desire, not wanting to give the other any more improper ideas, and leaned back as casually as he could as Ares did himself back up.

Ares cleared his throat and his smirk returned. "My friend is number four. I don't know if he'll introduce himself, so I'll skip on giving names, but you won't be able to miss him. Blond and insane."

"Right," Roxas said faintly, standing from his seat in certainty that their business was over. He reached into an inside pocket of his trenchcoat and pulled out a pouch of munny, dropping it on the desk. "I'll be going then. I'll be missed." He turned to the door, determined to leave, but only made it a couple steps before a long arm wrapped around his waist and he was pulled against a thin chest.

"I want a name before you go," the redhead whispered, voice low in a way that made Roxas shiver.

"…Roxas."

"Roxas," the man repeated as if he was testing the name out. He trailed a few soft kisses down the blond's neck, and Roxas gulped deeply as his hand lifted to the one holding onto his stomach. "Until next week, then. I look forward to it."

And then Roxas was pushed unceremoniously forward, door opening as if of its own accord, and slamming shut behind him. He pulled himself up shakily, glared at the multiple sets of eyes that stared eerily at him, and made his way out.

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A/N: If you review I will love you forever! Or until I forget your name, whichever comes first. 


	2. Chapter 2: Such a Softer Sin

A/N: Please excuse me while I flail and sputter incoherently at my reviews. God, guys, seriously, YOU ARE SO AWESOME. (Caps lock necessary.) Anyway, I was originally going to wait until I'd completed the third chapter to post this one, but let's be honest here: I can't write Xemnas (or action scenes) to save my goddamn life. And I'm so overwhelmed by all these reviews that I thought you guys deserved a reward. XD Don't expect chapter three out this fast! I'm really a very slow updater, thought I'd warn you guys.

Warnings: You read chapter one, right? It's all the same!

Disclaimer: Squaresoft. Disney. Not me.

Summary: AU. AkuRoku. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

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_Chapter Two: Such a Softer Sin_

Roxas found himself pacing erratically in his bedroom a week later, sending the occasional glare at his open window as he waited on number four's appearance. He wasn't angry about how late it was—nearing three in the morning, last he checked—though anyone who didn't know him would think he was furious. No, he was just nervous about what the rest of the night would bring. The coming arson, the future ahead of him, losing the only family he had…seeing Ares again. And if he was perfectly honest with himself, it was that last part that unnerved him the most. The man had gotten under his skin, there was no doubt about that. In the past week, he'd thought of his…future co-worker far more than he'd thought of any one person before. And, as he once again recalled the feel of soft lips on his skin, he knew that he was going to be hard-pressed not to simply throw himself at the tall man.

Hormones really, really had a lot to answer for. If it weren't for them he'd be dying tonight too. He wouldn't have to be worrying about the Organization, his feelings, or if he'd ever see his brother again. Hell, he'd probably be asleep, and nothing at all would have mattered at this moment. Unless Ares had run off with his munny. He wouldn't be surprised.

He came to a sudden halt in front of his large duffle bag, toeing it thoughtfully as he considered the possibility that this night wouldn't be solving anything. He had everything he thought he'd need in that bag—what munny he had left after the pouch he'd dropped on Ares' desk, a laptop, enough changes of clothes to last until he had a chance to get more. Everything else was already on his person, including the cheap checkered bracelet his brother had given him as a present when he'd gotten his first paycheck and a pair of swords around his waist. But both of them were hidden underneath his trenchcoat, where nobody would notice if they just glanced at him. He wasn't about to go anywhere without them.

He sent another impatient glare in the direction of his window—and nearly jumped out of his skin at the apparition that had appeared while he hadn't been paying attention. He peered at the scowling man that was slowly opening his window, lifeless blond hair blowing in the soft breeze outside. Roxas stepped forward quickly, frowning as something thudded loudly against the side of the house, and shoved the window open the rest of the way to help the man in.

"You're just a _kid_," the man muttered grumpily, and dropped his load in the middle of the floor. "Number eight better not be thinking with his libido again. I have enough dead bodies."

Roxas' eyebrows rose in abject disbelief of the man before him, and he found himself unable to doubt that this man was Ares' friend. But he figured it was better to be safe than sorry, and coldly interrupted. "Let me see your tattoo."

It was the new man's turn to raise his eyebrows, though he complied with a mutter of what sounded like "Asshole needs to stop blurting out information like that". He turned and lifted the back of his hair up—there, right where his hair ended, was the tattoo: the spiky Organization symbol in a light blue with IV across it in black. Satisfied, Roxas moved to help the man lift the human-shaped object he was carrying. He didn't want to think about what it was made of, or whose bones he was tying down to his own bed. He didn't know if he could keep going with the plan if he thought too hard about what went into getting him out.

"That ought to do it," the older man said with a certain amount of satisfaction, dusting his hands off. "I trust that you have everything ready? It's about time we go."

"Yeah, I've got what I need in my bag," Roxas replied, swinging said bag over his shoulder under the other's watchful gaze. "Ah…what should I call you?"

"While we're on a mission, we go by numbers," the man murmured, one leg already hanging out the window. "You may refer to me as Four. If you live through the night…perhaps I'll tell you my name." Then he dropped quite suddenly out of sight, falling to the ground with a nearly inaudible thud. Roxas hesitated the slightest bit before he followed, landing silently on the ground by his side. Four raised his eyebrows, looking vaguely impressed, and lifted a wrist to his mouth.

"I've got him. Are you in position, Nine?"

"Ready and waiting, old man!" a cheerful voice responded, coming through surprisingly clear. Roxas took a stop closer to hear better, startled by how naïve this other person sounded. "I've been tying my shoe for five minutes now."

"I'm glad you've finally taken the time to teach yourself how to tie a bow," Four responded dryly, and Nine laughed.

"How's my buddy?" a new voice sounded suddenly, causing Four to scowl as Roxas sucked in a startled breath. "Not having second thoughts, is he?"

"He's quiet," Four responded shortly, glaring at nothing. "Are you ready, Eight?"

"Oh yeah," the voice chuckled, and there was the exaggerated sound of him kissing something. "Let's light this place up. On three?"

"Be prepared to run a few blocks," Four informed Roxas, pulling something from a pocket and inspecting it. "Your count, Nine."

"One!" the cheerful voice came back immediately. The taller blond man pulled a lighter out of another pocket. "Two!" There was a soft click and a small flame appeared, lighting the end of a string. Roxas held his breath. "Three!" Four's arm swung back and forward, a dark object hurtling from his hand and smashing through the bedroom window they'd just come out of, and then he'd grabbed Roxas' arm and bolted. The explosion was surprisingly quiet, but there was a burning heat on his back and Roxas struggled to regain his footing. Someone was screaming in surprise, the noise coming both from the sidewalk and from Four's wrist, and then he was running enthusiastically into his future, heart pumping. Another figure joined them soon, Roxas immediately recognizing Ares' thin form despite the hood he'd pulled over his hair, and the seconds flew by so quickly it seemed as if they'd teleported to the side of a nondescript car and Four was shoving him into the backseat. Roxas found himself pressed up against the side of the redhead that had gotten him into this, swords settled awkwardly around him and gasping for breath.

"Yes!" Ares cried, pushing his hood back and leaning over Roxas to stare at the fire in the distance. "Man, I've got to give Reno something extra for those babies. I was wondering why he was practically creaming himself over them—but those were fucking _perfect_." Brilliant green eyes turned to Roxas, bright over a wide and excited grin. "How you holding up, kid?"

"…Fine," Roxas stated uncertainly, turning from Ares to stare in the direction of his house. "Why are we just sitting here?"

"We're waiting for Nine," Four replied. His eyes were on Roxas as well, though they were narrowed in thought. "Nobody's going to pay us any mind, and by the time he's saved your brother and gotten back to us, anybody who would will be at your house to watch the show."

"Besides, Six won't leave without him," Ares laughed. "Nine would probably make him sleep alone if he tried to."

"Not all of us revolve our lives around sex, Eight," a deep voice said emotionlessly from the front seat, but Roxas didn't turn to look at this new person. His eyes were trained on the smoke and fire in the distance, wondering how his brother was doing.

"You sure you're alright?" Ares asked softly, his arm wrapping comfortingly around Roxas' shoulders and tugging at him. "Your brother will be fine. Nine may sound like a ditz—hell, he may _be_ a ditz—but he'll get his job done. If I had any doubts about that, I wouldn't have let him help. Just try to relax a little, hm?" Roxas didn't respond in any way except to scowl, staring determinedly at anything but the man behind him. There was a soft sigh and then Ares had leaned forward, leaning on Roxas' back and wrapping his arms around him gently. Roxas tried to relax, to dispel his irrational fears. These people were professionals, in a way, this was probably just a routine arson to them. But still….

The minutes ticked by slowly, each one making the blond boy just a little more nervous. Nobody said anything, making the mood in the car tense and nearly unbearable. Four bounced a leg nervously while Ares' tapped a soundless tune on his stomach, and Roxas was on the brink of jumping out of the car to find out what was going on when a tall form finally ran up to the passenger's side of the car and practically dove headfirst inside.

"Mission accomplished!" the mulleted blond said cheerfully, leaning over the center console and placing a chaste kiss on the driver's cheek before turning around to face them. "Your brother's a-okay. A bit panicky, but I'm sure he'll be fine. I think I left him with some friends of his anyway." He leaned over and grabbed Roxas' hand, shaking it firmly. Roxas stared bemusedly at him, taken aback by the older teen's friendliness. "I'm De—"

"Turn around and put your seatbelt on, Nine," Six said coldly. The talkative blond winked at Roxas before spinning around and flipping on the radio.

"C'mere, kid," Ares murmured, and Roxas turned awkwardly in his seat to face him. A gloved hand gently cupped his chin as the taller man stared down at him, frowning slightly. "Everything's fine. I've taken care of it, and I'll keep taking care of it. Just like I promised."

"Thanks," Roxas said softly, allowing himself the barest of smiles. The redhead's frown immediately vanished, replaced by a large grin, and the slight blond was nearly pulled into his lap. He ran a hand gently down Roxas' back, and Roxas relaxed as much as he could into the warm embrace, forehead against a firm chest. He was sorely tempted to turn his head to the side and relax completely, to let Ares lull him into a sense of security with his body heat and the sound of his heart beating, but he wasn't sure what type of reaction he would get from the others in the car—if it would be accepted or scorned for a weakness.

"Clearly, I was mistaken in having any sort of hope that Eight is capable of thinking with the proper organ," Four mused loudly, and the warmth disappeared for a moment to make way for the sound of a leather-clad fist hitting an equally leather-clad shoulder, and then it was back and Roxas hid his amused smile in Ares' chest. What he'd seen of the feared Organization so far reminded him mostly of the friendly rivalry of brothers. They were obviously some sort of highly dysfunctional family.

"You're just jealous because you don't have some hot young thing hanging off of you," Ares said loftily, gently petting Roxas' back. "We'll have to fix that. I bet getting laid would do you _wonders_."

"I can assure you that having your so-called hot young things hanging off me holds no particular interest for me," Four assured him just as loftily. "I have no interest in pederasty, and I am highly insulted that you would think so."

"I am highly insulted that we are talking about either of your sex lives while we are on a mission," Six stated coldly.

"Yeah, me too!" Nine added in. You could practically hear the leer in his voice. "Let's talk about mine instead!"

"As yours involves me, I would rather appreciate it if we didn't," Six snarled.

"Are you guys _always_ like this?" Roxas asked, teetering on the edge between amused and horrified. "I mean, I've heard things about you. And, well, I couldn't imagine a more unlikely group of cold-blooded gang members."

"This is all a cunning ploy to lull you into a false sense of security so that we may more easily kill you in your sleep," Six deadpanned. "It's far more exciting that way."

"Of course, we have to let Ax—Eight have his way with you first!" Nine put in cheerily, snickering as he did so. "He gets quite grumpy when his perverted schemes have been derailed, you know. Last time we had to get a new hideout after he burnt it down."

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that incident again," the red-haired man said lightly. Roxas couldn't help the sudden laughter that bubbled up in his throat, so he muffled it into the man's chest. It was something bordering on hysterical, due to the stress of the day and his lack of a proper sleep, and he wondered for a brief moment as a pair of arms clung to him whether his new friends were concerned at his rather erratic behavior.

Ares rubbed his back soothingly and pulled him closer, and he stopped resisting the urge to listen for the heart and pushed himself into his savior's embrace, calming only when he heard the steady thumping and Ares' relieved voice informing everyone that Roxas was alright, probably just tired or stressed or both or possibly just insane.

And maybe it was a little twisted, but he'd never before felt more at home than he did then when he was surrounded by gangsters and in the arms of his would-be killer.

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A/N: Wow, so the first chapter was so much better. Don't worry, it gets worse! ;)

On a totally different note, I'm naming all of the chapter using song lyrics. E-hugs to anyone that can guess the songs! XD


	3. Chapter 3: My Flaws Are Open Season

A/N: Ehheh. So hi, it's the third chapter! I know, I know. This took forever. I'm so sorry, I really didn't expect it to take as long as it did. Real life came up and bit me in the ass and it's been a horribly long few weeks—my grandmother died, my brother's car broke down and I had to drive him to work for a few days, then I had a friend over for my birthday…and on top of all that, Xemnas is a fucking pain in the ass to write. Argh. But here it is, rather lackluster but chockfull of action and porn! (Okay, I'm joking about the porn.)

Edit: Version 2.0: Now With Less Typos!

Warnings: Nothing more than usual.

Disclaimer: Squaresoft and Disney and whatnot. Sadly, I don't own anything but the plot.

Summary: AU. AkuRoku. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

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_ Chapter Three: My Flaws Are Open Season  
_

Roxas wasn't entirely sure he liked the run-down castle-like mansion he soon found himself in. The theme of the place seemed to be 'white', but it was really taken to the extreme. It wasn't just that the walls and floor were white, _everything_ was. The curtains, the furniture, the doors, the improbably located seats on the wall in what appeared to be some sort of throne room. And it was all the same blinding shade of white, something that played with your eyes and almost made it look as if the people in the wall-chairs were floating in midair. He wondered if it was meant to be intimidating, and how many people had actually seen this place, and whether or not he was a little bit messed in the head for being utterly unimpressed.

The seated people looked down at them with what Roxas assumed was interest—not that he could be sure because every one of them had their hoods up, hiding their faces. It irked him a little, made him feel the slightest bit vulnerable, but he stared up at them coldly anyway and waited for something to happen.

"He's just a kid," a voice echoed in the room, sounding more curious than annoyed like Four had been. "You sure you know what you're doing, Eight? He could be a weakness."

"Hey, I was a kid when I joined too," Ares grinned in response, staring unnervingly at one of the highest-seated men. "I didn't slow you guys down any, did I?"

"That was different," another voice spoke. It was rough and there was a hint of a growl behind every word he spoke. "Both you and Nine had been born in the Underground. You could get by, and knew everything important anyway. What's so special about this little rich boy?"

"Well…" the redhead rubbed at the back of his hair, not looking up at anyone. "He's not afraid of me? And he can be pretty nasty. Doesn't bat an eye at anything. Mostly anything. But, you know, anyone'd be a bit shaken up after their house burnt down and father died, right?"

"Eight talks too much," a female voice called, laughing. "I say we test the little brat. I think I see some sort of weapon under that coat of his."

"Yeah, he's packing some weirdass swords!" Ares grinned. "I was wondering about those things. They kind of hurt when you jumped me, kid."

"You grabbed me first," Roxas muttered, speaking for the first time since they'd entered and scowling as he did so. "It's your own fault."

"I bet he doesn't even know how to use them!" the girl said mockingly. "Bet he just wanted something to remind him of home when he finally left."

"I can use them," Roxas returned as quietly as he could without whispering, but it echoed in the room anyway. There was a stirring of interest in the gathered people, Ares was smirking smugly, and the blond was suddenly nervous. He realized that he actually was going to be tested, and because he'd gone and opened his big mouth he'd probably be fighting someone. He hoped it wasn't the girl. Her voice was grating on his nerves, and he had a feeling that no amount of fighting would make her shut up. She seemed the type to taunt and brag endlessly.

"Perhaps a small demonstration of his skills," an accented voice murmured thoughtfully. "He could fight one of us. Just not Twelve. We'll need him to make it through intact."

"Oh, Ten, darling, you know I always keep my toys in one piece," the girl cackled. "Leaves me something to play with again later."

"Enough!" someone—obviously the leader—snapped, silencing the other members immediately. "A small test sounds like a good idea. Eleven. Try not to hurt him too much."

"I'll do my best not to," a deep voice spoke, and a surprisingly slender man jumped down from his seat. He had a scythe in his hand—pink and green, odd colors for such a dangerous weapon—and absolutely towered over Roxas. "Well, boy? I don't think we should be fighting when you're unarmed."

Roxas hesitated for hardly a second before he began unzipping his trenchcoat. He felt oddly exposed with it open, like every flaw he had (and a few he didn't have) was out in the open for everyone to see. He shrugged it off his shoulders, earning a whistle from one of the higher people, and Ares reached out to take it from him.

"Good luck," the man whispered softly enough that nobody could hear him, and gave Roxas a soft push forward.

Roxas schooled his expression, making sure he didn't look as scared as he felt, and stepped forward until he was only a few feet away from Eleven—far enough away that he was sure he was out of range of the scythe, but close enough that he would be able to get a hit in—and fell smoothly into his fighting stance as he pulled out his keyblades. The members stirred again, but he didn't pay enough attention to be able to figure out what they were interested in. He was trained on the man before him, who was standing casually as if he didn't think the small blond boy in front of him was even worth the time to be testing. The confidence assured Roxas that he wouldn't get his ass handed to him, because if he wasn't going to be taken seriously, he wasn't going to mess around.

The man seemed to be waiting for a signal of some sort, but Roxas had already decided he wasn't going to make the first move. It was easier for him to get the feel of someone's abilities if they attacked first and he could see the way they moved, see how fast he had to react in order to block and counterattack. He figured Eleven was the same way…but he also figured that he had more patience.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the man jumped forward and swung the long weapon at him, forcing Roxas to dodge and thrust it away at the same time. So, Eleven was fast. But if that was as fast as he could move, Roxas was faster. All the same, he quickly backpedaled a few steps--both to keep the distance in case he was judging wrong, and to make the other continue to underestimate him.

"Are you afraid of me, boy?" Eleven asked, chuckling lightly. "I don't suppose I can blame you, really. I've obviously got the advantage here."

Roxas opted not to say anything, though he narrowed his eyes in feigned anger and twirled the sword in his right hand like it was a nervous habit. Let Eleven think this was going to be an easy win, that Roxas couldn't control his emotions and would let them force him to do something stupid. He did have a short temper, but he wasn't going to lose something this important. He was too proud of his skills to do that...and, for some reason he didn't particularly want to think about, he felt like he absolutely could not let Ares down.

When Eleven jumped forward again, swinging his weapon wide, Roxas took his advantage and leapt forward to meet him. He could feel the other's surprise and knew he had to use it, changing tactics and aiming low in the hopes of at least knocking him off his feet. Only the man was slightly better than expected, and Roxas was bitterly disappointed when he jumped over the weapon and copied Roxas' earlier backpedaling movements. Roxas slowly stood back up and tried not to smirk when he noted how far his enemy had moved away.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, until Roxas realized that Eleven was reconsidering the ease of this farce of a fight. But Roxas couldn't have that and he ran forward, dragging the keyblades against the ground for a distraction, and was gratified to notice that Eleven made an automatic move to cover his ears at the piercing noise. He was almost too late to block, but Roxas wasn't bothered with the man's success, smashing his keyblade into the scythe and spinning to attack again, eyes narrowed in concentration as he continued swinging until the scythe finally went flying and the taller man fell to the floor with a gasp. He pointed one weapon at the man's hooded face and smirked, triumphant.

Someone began clapping, and Roxas looked up to see that Ares had thrown his coat over his own shoulder and was grinning ridiculously. Roxas forced himself not to smile.

"That is quite enough, Eight," the deep voice of the leader called down, and Roxas looked up to see one of the hooded figures lifting his hands to his hood. The blond's eyes widened as the cloth fell back to reveal a man with absolutely indescribable gray hair and cold hawk-yellow eyes. "Your ability to fight notwithstanding, there is no true way to tell if you would be a good addition to our organization without some manner of…testing. A week with Two should suffice." One of the highest figures jumped from his seat—Roxas blinked in surprise and missed the landing, though he heard the soft thunk of booted feet hitting the tiled floor. When Roxas opened his eyes, another tall figure was before him and he could see the hint of a single yellow eye and a masculine face in the shadows of the hood. Then the man ruffled his hair, chuckling as Roxas batted irritably at his arm, and turned his attention back to the leader. "Do not be a disappointment."

Roxas heard the tone of dismissal in the leader's words and wasn't surprised when Ares swept him out of the room, Two following on their heels. Nobody said a word as they walked through the halls—something that made Roxas unaccountably nervous—but the sound of rustling fabric made the blond boy turn to look at Two and nearly stop dead in his tracks. The reason he'd only seen the hint of one eye was immediately obvious—a large eyepatch adorned the right side of his face. But the livid scar on the left cheek stood out unexpectedly, completely overshadowing the attractive shape of his face and his long graying hair, and Roxas couldn't help the brief moment of wide-eyed surprise.

"Don't be so nervous, little dude," the man snickered. "They're old wounds. There's hardly anything going on around here that I can't deal with, and you look like you can handle yourself alright." He came to a sudden halt, spinning to face Roxas and bending over to look him right in the eye. "You wanna see something cool?"

"Uh…sure," Roxas returned uncertainly, eyes flickering over to a smirking Ares before returning to the man in front of him, whose wide grin put the redhead's to shame. Two flipped up his eyepatch with little fanfare and Roxas almost held back a wince—the Organization's tattoo was drawn in brilliantly colored detail over the man's sealed eyelid, barely concealing another dark scar.

"Yeah, I think you'll do alright," Two laughed, straightening up and ruffling Roxas' hair again. "Name's Xigbar." His eyes left Roxas' to leer at Ares suggestively. "I'll leave you two alone for a couple minutes. You know where the room is." He didn't even give them a second glance as he quickly walked off, leaving a rather befuddled Roxas to glance back at Ares for some sort of clarification.

"Congratulations! Xigbar likes you," Ares announced cheerfully, making Roxas' eyebrows raise. He wasn't entirely sure he _wanted_ Xigbar to like him, though it was definitely good news when you considered that they were going to be stuck with each other for a week. But something about the older man unnerved him, made him uncertain and twitchy and thankful that the other hadn't been there during the arson. "Look, don't mind the old bastard; you'll get used to him soon enough. And I'm pretty sure he won't molest you in your sleep, though how he could possibly resist you is completely beyond my understanding."

"Shut up," Roxas snarled, feeling himself blush. He tried to ignore the way his insides jumped when Ares turned a gentle smile on him, covering it up with his usual scowl. Ares seemed unimpressed by it, reaching out to wrap his arm tightly around Roxas' shoulders and beginning to walk slowly in the direction Xigbar had gone.

"Kid, there's a couple things you should probably know about me," he began amiably, keeping his face forward and not even glancing down at the boy attached to his side. "The first is that I almost never shut up—in fact, I'd say Nine's the only one that talks more than me. So, no, I'm not going to shut up. And you can threaten me all you want, but I've already gotten threatened by the best and Xigbar's shot me in the ass once, so it won't do you much good." Roxas smirked, giving the idea some thought and deciding that Xigbar probably _would_ have done that, and he couldn't really blame the man. "And the second thing I probably should have mentioned on the way over here. My name—my real name, not the one I gave myself to use in public—is Axel. Wouldn't want you embarrassing yourself and calling me anything else."

"…Axel," Roxas echoed uncertainly. The redhead certainly _looked_ like an Axel—unique, dangerous, and unbearably attractive—but hearing it still caught him by surprise. He'd been calling this man Ares for a week. It wasn't going to be easy to change it in his mind. "Well, it's a lot cooler than Ares."

"Aw, c'mon, Roxy," Ar—Axel pouted, stopping again to fall into a ridiculous pose, hands on his hips and feet spread far apart, like a mother scolding her child. "You telling me you didn't get it?"

"I got it, and it's tacky." Roxas glared at the towering man dangerously. "And if you ever call me Roxy again, I'm going to shove my keyblade down your throat."

"I'd like to see you try," Axel leered, bending over almost double to look Roxas in the eye. "You couldn't even reach."

The blond's eyes narrowed to angry slits, and Axel's eyes widened comically as Roxas grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled, bringing his face in closer than it had ever been before.

"I could do it right now," Roxas murmured, his voice coming out in almost a purr as he pulled Axel even closer so that their lips were nearly touching. He smirked and held their position, blue eyes boring into green, not even moving when he felt Axel's long-fingered hands clutching his waist.

"You fucking tease," Axel whispered, voice harsh in frustration, and Roxas's smirk would have widened if he hadn't suddenly found himself being kissed by Axel, hadn't felt hands running up his sides in a way that made him gasp and tighten his already painful grip. He half expected to be pushed against a wall, for the dangerous man to simply take everything he wanted without giving the boy time to protest, but the embrace was surprisingly gentle. He was pressing forward of his own will, twining the fingers of his free hand in Axel's mane of hair and loosening the grip of his other hand to run it over the other's chest and shoulders, clinging to the man as if his life depended on it. He found himself on his tiptoes when Axel straightened up slightly, and it was vaguely uncomfortable but still amazing, every bit as wonderful as he'd thought it might be in the week of dreaming between their two meetings. But when he felt those hands on his ass, he pulled away in a near panic—this was going too far, too fast—falling back to the flats of his feet and staring determinedly down at the ground as he tried not to shake. After everything else that had happened that night, this intensity was too much for him. He should have known better than to tease Axel, should have known from the first time they'd met that the man wouldn't stop, but he was tired and _wanted_ it and—

"Fuck," Axel gasped, hands on Roxas' face forcing the boy to look up. He closed his eyes to the sight of the man's concern, and heard a sigh as long arms wrapped around him in a gentle hug. "You shouldn't do shit like that, Roxas. I'm not exactly known for my self-control."

"Right," Roxas whispered painfully, trying to keep his voice steady and almost failing. "I need some sleep, I think. It's been a really long day."

"Yeah, of course," Axel muttered, pushing him away. He stared down at Roxas for a long moment, frowning, before he gently wrapped his arms back around Roxas' thin shoulders and steered him down the hall. The walk was silent again, and Roxas was mentally cursing his inability to follow through the entire way. At the door to what must have been Xigbar's rooms, Axel looked down at him uncertainly before his usual grin spread across his face. He leaned over, leaving a chaste kiss on his lips before murmuring a soft good night and heading off in what was presumably the direction of his own rooms.

Roxas pressed his fingers to his lips as he watched the tall man walk away, surprised, and couldn't push back the gentle smile that spread across his face.

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A/N: Sorry again about the wait—I really thought I'd get this done and out within the week after chapter two. Blargh on real life. But thanks to everyone who came back to read this—I appreciate the support! 


	4. Chapter 4: Evil Shows Another Side

A/N: Hahaha wow it's been a while. But um, at least I have a reliable internet connection now? Yeah, sorry about the time between updates, been a rough month and whatnot. Hope this chapter isn't too disappointing; I found writing it to be a bit bland, so meh. But the next chapter should be a lot more fun, so stay tuned! (:

(Edit: Fixed a silly mistake regarding Lexaeus' number. Oopsies. And a couple minor grammatical errors.)

Warnings: Demyx is not on crack, I swear.

Disclaimer: insert joke about how I own Kingdom Hearts because I bought the game

Summary: AU. AxelRoxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

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_Chapter Four: Evil Shows Another Side_

Roxas had lived with his naïve and hyperactive twin brother for his entire life. They'd never shared a bedroom, but Roxas' door was never locked overnight and he was used to waking up oddly some days—doused in a bucketful of water, his face written on with marker, a garden snake in his blankets, just about every practical joke known to man (though Sora had never been stupid enough to dip his fingers in warm water). But it had always been done quietly, with surprising stealth for a boy who couldn't sit still for five minutes.

He was therefore completely unprepared for the loud screech of "KAMIKAZE!" followed by a black-and-blond blur landing heavily on his body. Roxas, half asleep, took this to be an assault and reacted accordingly; he grabbed a handful of whatever he could get to first and used all his strength to fling the body away from him. Said body landed on the floor with a loud thud and a groan as Roxas pressed himself against the wall, breathing heavily.

"I told you that was going to be a bad idea," Six's almost-familiar voice said from the direction of the door, and Roxas looked over to really notice him for the first time, to take in the dark hair in front of his face and his startlingly short stature, and then to look over at Nine. The difference between the two of them was oddly jarring, though Roxas knew it was no more obvious than the difference between himself and Axel.

"Shut up," Nine whined as he stood up, rubbing his side. "Ow. Aren't you supposed to be more sympathetic? What are we having sex for?" The dark-haired man just raised his single visible eyebrow, and a pouting Nine turned back to Roxas and pulled him down from the bed. "Well, since I didn't get a chance to really introduce myself before, I'm Demyx. And the mean one's Zexion, who's very much mine. You need to know that in case you ever get sick of Axel, because I don't share."

"Well, thanks for the warning, I guess," Roxas said uncertainly, scratching the back of his head. "Um. Sorry about throwing you like that."

"Oh, it's fine!" Demyx waved him off cheerfully. "Zexion tends to hit me with books when I do that to him, and Axel lit me on fire once, and Larxene sleeps with a tazer under her pillow, and Xigbar tried to shoot me, and--"

"Aren't we here for a reason, Demyx?" Zexion interrupted smoothly, lips quirked in a half-smile. "Xigbar's waiting."

"Oh yeah!" Demyx grabbed hold of Roxas and began pulling him toward the door. "Xigbar wants to teach you how to fire a gun, you know, just in case you need to. And we were sent to get you! You're lucky the Superior put you up with Xigbar, anyone else would probably have woken you at the crack of dawn."

"Hey, wait!" Roxas yelped, trying to dig his feet into the solid ground. "Would you let me get dressed?"

"Oh, right," Demyx said sheepishly, looking faintly embarrassed. "We'll just be right outside, come out whenever you're ready!"

"Don't take too long," Zexion advised him quietly. "You don't want Xigbar coming to find you."

"Right," Roxas agreed, and let out a sigh once the door had closed. He needed to adjust his internal clock or something, because he really didn't want to be caught off-guard like that again. He knew he was probably just being paranoid, but anything that was done to him within the next week may have been part of the test. Being surprised by this Demyx certainly seemed like it would be a black mark on any sort of imaginary record they were keeping on him. He rubbed at his head as he walked over to his bag, trying to remember if he'd had the sense to pack some sweatpants.

Upon exiting the room, he was practically dragged down the hallway by Demyx, who seemed content to chatter aimlessly as they sped along, the twists and turns (and occasional detours) all but making Roxas dizzy. But they eventually made it through the final white-paneled door to an odd courtyard where he was assaulted by the smell of gunpowder and the sound of gunshot around the corner of the small alcove he found himself in. He was almost out in the open air when he felt a surprisingly strong tug on his arm and he was forced to a stop. He turned around to glare, but Demyx was apparently immune to his icy stare—he gazed innocently back with theatrically wide eyes.

"The idea is to shoot the target, not _be_ the target!" he said cheerfully. Roxas stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Xigbar has a tendency to shoot first and berate you later for sneaking up on him," Zexion translated quietly, shrugging his shoulders. "If he saw or sensed you coming, you'd likely be incapacitated before you so much as knew that he had turned around."

"So how do we get his attention, then?" Roxas asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. Neither Demyx nor Zexion answered, though Zexion turned to a console set on the side of the wall and began fiddling with something. Roxas turned away, disinterested as Demyx began talking again (though he took a very short moment to wonder if the man ever shut up), and stared at the trees in the distance. They reminded him of something that he thought he'd long forgotten, never-ending summer days that were always full of adventure—tall trees to climb, the big hill that had once seemed like a mountain, innocence and sunshine and his brother's ever-smiling face. A life that was steeped in a darkness that didn't matter because he always had a light beside him.

He couldn't believe he missed his idiot twin already.

Forcing himself out of nostalgia, he turned back to his companions just in time to hear Demyx' warning about the upcoming alarm and tense himself before the painfully loud blaring of a horn sounded. He half expected a flock of birds to come flying out of the trees in fright, though he should have known better: if any had ever been resting in the courtyard, they would have already been scared off by Xigbar's practice.

"So the kid's finally up, huh?" Xigbar questioned in an amused tone of voice as he appeared almost as if he'd been summoned to them. Roxas rolled his eyes at the dramatics as he was propelled over to what he could only think to describe as a shooting range and a gun was shoved unceremoniously into his hands. He inspected it interestedly—he'd never actually seen a gun close up before. It was illegal to so much as own one where he came from, and they were generally considered to be a coward's weapon anyway, reserved only for the villains in particularly entertaining movies. He wondered if this made him a bad guy, and then had to stifle a laugh at the irony. He'd hired someone to kill his father, had nearly gotten someone to kill him, and then had run off from his only remaining family to join a criminal organization, half because he was afraid to die and half because he was horribly attracted to one of its members. If none of that gave him a spot with the bad guys, then firing a gun at inanimate objects with no intention of actually using it to kill someone obviously wasn't going to.

With a shake of his head, he returned his attention to Xigbar and listened intently as he was told what to do. He tensed uncertainly when the man stepped up behind him and reached around to adjust Roxas' grip and aim. The first shot, with Xigbar assisting him, was dead center, but then the man moved away and he was told to aim at a different target. He half expected to completely miss it, but he was gratified to see that he'd at least hit inside the red and white circles every time, though his aim was atrocious. He lowered his arms once he was out of bullets and turned to Xigbar, frustrated.

"Hey, that wasn't bad for a beginner," Xigbar assured him, walking over and patting him harshly on the back. "Demyx still can't hit the broad side of a barn."

"I'm a magician, not a sharpshooter," Demyx scoffed from where he was standing a safe distance away, an arm wrapped around Zexion's waist. The shorter man was leaning into him, though eyeing Roxas with a thoughtful look on his face. "Besides, creating a gigantic wave of water doesn't involve much aiming. Just a bit of patience that I notice you don't have, mister teleportation."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," Xigbar responded, nose in the air, and turned back to Roxas. "Now, all you need is a bit of practice, right? So any time I'm not out here, you're welcome to use the range. Just don't shoot anything that isn't a target, 'specially if it's alive. But if you do accidentally shoot, say, an annoying blond kid with a mohawk, do me a favor and clean it up."

"Yeah, sure," Roxas muttered disinterestedly. He furrowed his brow at Demyx instead, focused on something the other blond had said. "Demyx, what did you mean you were a magician? Magic's just a fairytale."

There was a moment of silence before Demyx threw back his head and laughed. "They really tell you guys that Above?" he asked merrily, grinning so wide it hurt Roxas' face just to look at it. "Man, and I thought Luxord was just being an ass when he told me that. How do they explain Hollow Bastion to you? Do you even know about Ki--"

"Demyx," Zexion said sharply, a note of warning in his voice, and the blond subsided with a nervous chuckle. Roxas glanced between the two of them, highly curious, and Zexion's mouth flattened into a thin line before he began talking. "Whatever you've been told, the truth about Hollow Bastion is that it was overrun by a plethora of magical experiments. Creatures that were called the Heartless by the former leader of the city. They're born from the shadows and wish for nothing more than to be whole—they killed a lot of people before the city was closed off, tearing the hearts of out of their bodies for a reason nobody could explain. It is only powerful magic that keeps the Bastion separated from the rest of the world. But that's not important. What _is_ important is that--"

"You're having me on," Roxas interrupted stubbornly. This had to be some sort of ridiculous joke, because he couldn't even process the thought that magic was real. Zexion raised an eyebrow at him, looking unimpressed, and stepped pointedly out of Demyx' grip.

"Want some proof?" the taller blond asked innocently, raising a hand above his head. Roxas crossed his arms and stared. For a long moment, nothing happened. Then he saw the thick droplets of water raising into the air, like rain falling backwards, and found his eyes riveted on the quickly forming ball of water that hovered over Demyx' open palm. He supposed there could be some sort of logical explanation for this that didn't involve magic, like a holograph or something, but he didn't know if he believed that either—especially when, with a suddenness that Roxas wouldn't have expected the babbling man to be capable of, he found himself soaked head to toe.

"Hey!" he yelped, glaring from behind sodden bangs as Xigbar started laughing. "What the hell was that for?"

"Sorry," Demyx responded, snickering, "but I just couldn't resist doing that. I mean, you left yourself wide open for it!"

"And let it never be said that Demyx is capable of resisting temptation," Zexion added dryly, though there was a small smile playing about his lips as well. Roxas snorted and pulled the bottom of his shirt away from his body, ineffectually trying to squeeze the water out. It was all he could do not to throw himself at Demyx and beat the man to a pulp, which was something he was fairly sure was going to happen by the end of this week anyway, if things continued going the way they had been so far.

"Woah, why does Roxas look like he's been pulled out of a lake?"

Roxas' head snapped up, and he stared with mounting horror as Axel walked over to them, followed by the tallest man the short blond had ever seen in his life. He'd be surprised if he so much as came up to the man's waist.

"This is number five, Lexaeus," Axel said, stepping right into Roxas' personal space and ruffling his hair, which only had the effect of spraying water everywhere. Roxas swatted at his arm, and the redhead chuckled.

"It's nice to meet you," Lexaeus said in a deep voice, holding out a large hand. Roxas tried to shake some of the water off his own hand before he obligingly reached forward to shake the others'. Lexaeus' hand wrapped fully around his own, but his grip on Roxas' hand wasn't painful. "Xigbar, Zexion. The Superior wants to see us."

"What's the point in giving me the kid if he's not gonna give me a chance to teach him anything?" Xigbar snorted.

"Think of the alternatives," Lexaeus replied with a hint of humor in his voice, and nodded at Axel and Roxas before turning and leaving the courtyard.

"I'll follow them to the room!" Demyx said cheerfully, waving over his shoulder at the two of them before throwing an arm over Zexion's shoulder and walking out with him and Xigbar, babbling the entire time.

"Does he ever stop talking?" Roxas asked quietly, giving up on his shirt in disgust and tugging at his hair instead.

"Not really," Axel replied, pulling Roxas' hands away to lead him out of the courtyard as well. "Come on, let's get back to Xigbar's room and get you dried off. Speaking of that, why are you all wet anyway?"

"I didn't know magic was real," Roxas scowled, silently promising himself that Demyx wouldn't know what hit him after this week was over. "So Demyx decided to give me a demonstration."

"I forgot that they don't teach you about magic up there," Axel muttered, frowning a little bit himself. "Dunno what they're afraid of, really. Anyway, all I really know about magic in general is that most people focus on a single element, And, of course, I know how to control my own preferred element, but I don't think that'd do you much good. I never really bothered to learn about it much, though I'm sure Demyx could tell you anything you wanted to know—provided he could resist the urge to soak you long enough to tell you."

Roxas nodded, though he knew Axel couldn't see it, and made a mental note to attempt to corner Demyx later. Or maybe Zexion, who he hoped would know enough to be useful. The dark-haired man might not talk much, but he seemed a lot more approachable than Demyx because of it. He'd be able to get a word into the conversation if he talked to Zexion, at least.

"Hey. What's your element?" Roxas asked quietly, tugging on Axel's hand and bringing them both to a stop in the middle of the hallway. "I mean, I guess the obvious would be fire since you're a pyromaniac for hire and all, but..."

"Yeah, kid, mine's fire," Axel agreed, grinning. "Why d'you think I'm so hot?"

Roxas rolled his eyes at the pun. "Show me," he demanded.

Axel's eyebrows raised, but he cupped his palm in front of Roxas' face, a small ball of flame appearing in his hand as he did so. Roxas lifted his own hand to it, half thinking of touching it to make sure it was real fire and not just some demented illusion, but it disappeared before he could.

"You'll get burned," Axel said softly, staring down at him blankly. Roxas gave him a long, thoughtful look and smiled.

"You wouldn't let me," he said without a trace of doubt in his voice. Axel returned the smile with a grin that wasn't as wide as usual, before cupping Roxas' face with the hand he'd held the fire in earlier. It was almost hot enough to feel like it would burn his skin, but Roxas didn't move away.

"Do you believe in love at first sight, Roxas?" Axel asked in a gentle voice, looking unsurprised as Roxas lightly shook his head. "Pity." He leaned over and pressed his lips to Roxas', sliding his hand into Roxas' messy hair and cupping the back of his head. Roxas wanted to throw his arms around Axel's neck and press himself into the older man's body, but resisted the urge and settled for running a hand up his arm. Axel pulled away as he did so, the soft look in his eyes making Roxas suck in a startled breath, and slowly began leading him down the hallway by the hand with their fingers tangled together.

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A/N: Filler chapter for the fail. D: 

Uh...e-cookies/hugs/whatever I might possibly have offered to Terranei Parker! Who totally guessed the lyricsy things, and then I lost the PM I got from them. Yeah, I pretty much fail at the world.

And a big thank you to all of my reviewers, and those quiet folk who threw me on their story alerts and/or favorites. I really appreciate it all, though I'm undoubtedly horrible at showing it, and I hope you continue to return despite my unreliable updating. I love you guys, for serious.


	5. Chapter 5: And I'm Tangled Up In You

A/N: Even (Vexen's Somebody) was totally a bishounen when he was younger. This has nothing to do with the chapter (or, in fact, any part of the story at all); I just wanted to share my opinion.  
Oh my god, writer's block. Please excuse me while I go BEAT MY HEAD INTO A FRICKIN' WALL. So frustrated. Gah. Enjoy the fluff, it never ends.

Warnings: There's a cliffhanger! Sorry, my beta/guinea pig insisted.

Disclaimer: I keep rubbing the lamp, but no Genie comes out. Wait, what do you mean he's already been freed? DAMNIT ALADDIN. Now I'll never own Kingdom Hearts.

Summary: AU. AxelRoxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

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_ Chapter Five: And I'm Tangled Up In You _

He was completely, utterly, horrifyingly lost. There was really no other way to put it. He'd woken up in the morning to find Xigbar gone, a note left for him informing him that it'd be a good idea to practice his aim, and so he'd set off to find the courtyard they'd been in the day before. Unfortunately, he hadn't memorized the convoluted route Demyx had taken and had been a bit distracted by Axel on the way back, so here he was aimlessly wandering the hallways of the castle/mansion/whatever, and wondering what the chances of him never being found were. Surely in an area this size it'd be hard to track him down, and there had to be all manner of places that other people would rather be than here. A library, their own rooms, a pool in the damn basement--

"Well, this is certainly an unexpected encounter," a vaguely familiar voice stated, and Roxas looked up with a start. He found himself staring up at another blond man, though this one had facial hair and several piercings in his left ear, and was looking down at him with some sort of aloof amusement that made Roxas bristle. Another man—tall, white-haired despite his youth, with a scarred face and high-class purple clothing—had an arm over his shoulders, and they were both surrounded by a strange trio of girls who were as different from each other as they were from any girl Roxas had ever seen before. "I would accompany you, but I already have a previous engagement. Would you like some directions?"

Roxas tilted his head to the side, brow furrowed as he tried to decide whether he could trust this man, and then he shrugged. "I'm alright," he said. "I'm just wandering around getting a feel for the place. I wouldn't want to keep you from whatever you're doing."

"Aw, Lux, who's the little cutey?" one of the girls asked, bouncing over to Roxas in a flurry of bare skin and colorfully beaded hair. "Why don't you invite him along with us?"

"I don't believe his boyfriend would appreciate that," the blond man replied with a smirk. "Nor do I think would yours."

"Yeah, but neither of them are here, are they?" the girl giggled, wrapping both arms around Roxas' neck and leaning into him. Roxas wanted to push her away, but wasn't sure where to put his hands to do so. The only parts of her body that seemed to be covered were the parts that were necessary for public decency—at the beach.

"Rikku, let the poor thing go," another one of the girls chastised, walking over to them and tugging on the blonde's arms. Roxas looked up into the kind, mismatched eyes, and resisted the urge to snicker. He hadn't known Rikku was a girl's name. "She doesn't really mean anything with the flirting. You're a bit too attractive to be her type."

"No, but you might just be Yuna's type," Rikku giggled, nudging the mismatched girl in the side. "You've got the air of an Abover about you, and we all know how she likes her boys tame and blond."

"Sometimes, you just can't account for taste," the third girl murmured in a coldly amused voice, arms crossed and red eyes crinkled at the corners, lending her smirk a soft touch. "Stop playing around, you two. We've got some treasure to win."

"Righty-o!" Rikku agreed, finally moving away from Roxas to throw a companionable arm over the taller girl's shoulders. "Paine'll win us something today for sure!"

"One can only hope," the silver-haired girl agreed. "Let's get going, Luxord."

"Of course, of course," Luxord smiled charmingly. "It was a great pleasure seeing you again, Roxas. Perhaps we could bond at some other time?"

"Maybe," Roxas agreed softly, and turned to watch as the five walked away. He couldn't help but notice the assorted weaponry the girls casually carried, taking note of how Rikku and Yuna kept their hands by them at all times. They'd seemed perfectly at ease in their interactions with each other and him, but they were obviously on guard—if he'd needed any proof that the Organization was dangerous, the fact that three beautiful women were armed to kill was more than enough for him.

His thoughts drifted as he began walking again, and he could feel the heat on his cheeks as he remembered the day before. Axel had led him back to Xigbar's room, ostensibly to let him change out of his wet clothes, and then had followed Roxas inside despite the blond's halfhearted protests. He knew he had been blushing horribly as he turned his back to Axel and began pulling off his clothes, hesitating once he'd untied the drawstring on his sweatpants. He'd been uncomfortable at the thought of Axel seeing him mostly naked so soon—he'd never let any of his few former boyfriends get him out of his clothes before, hadn't ever so much as gone beyond kissing. He'd half-turned to ask Axel to leave again, but had been brought up short by the intense look in the older man's eyes, and then had been unable to move when the redhead had stepped forward and gently tugged Roxas' pants off himself. Caught up in the man's gaze, he'd hardly noticed being pushed onto the bed, legs spread, but he'd never forget the feel of Axel's larger body pressing him into the mattress, how he'd been unable to resist the urge to pull Axel into a deep kiss, how a warm hand had run freely over his body and eventually found its way into Roxas' boxers, wrapping firmly around him--

Roxas came to a sudden halt in midstep and buried his face in his hands. Xigbar had returned from the apparently short meeting at exactly that moment and literally yelped before pulling Axel off of him and dragging the grinning man out of the room. Roxas, mortified, had run into the bathroom to calm himself down...only to be even more embarrassed as Xigbar banged on the bathroom door and yelled at him to clean up after himself. Thankfully, the memory of that was enough to destroy his currently rising arousal. He really didn't want to be walking the hallways with an erection, seeing as he could be spotted at any moment.

"Hey, Roxas!" a voice called from not too far behind him, and Roxas winced. Keeping an image of Xigbar's horrified face fresh in his mind, he turned to greet whoever was striding over to him, and was half-relieved and half-horrified to discover that it was just Axel. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I'm glad you'd run into Luxord, at least he could tell me what direction you'd gone off in." He didn't even stop as he wrapped an arm around Roxas' shoulders, simply pulling the smaller boy along with him through the nearest doorway.

The room they found themselves in was, to be quite honest, absolutely amazing. There was a small walkway that ran throughout it, raised high up from the actual floor. Between those walkways were small ponds of clear water, in which Roxas could see tiny silverfish darting underneath some sort of strange water plant he'd never seen before. They were similar to water lilies, but they had heart-shaped leaves, rose-red blooms, and no obvious connection to the lightly soiled ground. Sunlight streamed through a solid glass wall at the far end of the room, and in the middle was a life-sized statue of a severe-looking bald man dressed in old-fashioned robes, trident in his hand and a snakelike water-dragon coiled around his body.

"Poseidon and Leviathan?" Roxas asked curiously, stepping forward to examine it. Up close, he could see how the dragon seemed to emerge directly from the robes. "More fairy tales. Were summoners real too?"

"I've been told they were," Axel replied quietly. "I've known quite a few people who went off to become one, but they never came back. Guess they weren't strong enough for it. Doesn't matter. I've got a present for you!"

"I'm almost afraid to find out what it is," Roxas said dryly, but let himself be led over to a bench. He stared curiously over at Axel as they walked, noting the way he repeatedly tapped a short rhythm on his shoulder. His nervousness almost made Roxas smile.

"Don't worry, it's a wooing gift," Axel responded, chuckling. "You have to like it, or I obviously fail at declaring my love to you." He pulled Roxas with him as he sat down, wrapping his arms firmly around Roxas's body as he settled the blond in his lap. "There was a reason I asked if you believed in love at first sight, you know." Roxas bit his lip and tore his gaze from Axel's hopeful eyes, uncertain. He really didn't believe in it, even thought Axel was being a bit ridiculous, but couldn't bring himself to voice his thoughts. That didn't mean he was going to lie. "Here," Axel continued gently, pulling one arm away long enough to dig through his pockets and push a jewelry box into Roxas' unresisting hands. The blond opened it silently, and raised his eyebrows at the contents.

"Don't you think it's a bit early in our relationship to get us matching rings?" he asked.

"Silly," Axel chuckled again, plucking the black and white rings from the box and casually sliding them onto the fingers of Roxas' left hand, the one Roxas wore his checkered wristband on. "Why would I spend money on myself when I can spend it all on you?"

Roxas didn't answer. He was staring down at his new rings, twirling them around his fingers uncertainly. He was feeling a little overwhelmed by Axel, not used to people being so open with their emotions, let alone people who felt so strongly so quickly. They barely knew each other, so how could Axel so fully believe that he was in love? Roxas knew it was lust, even if it was true that he'd never gotten so caught up in someone before. Being pretty much unable to resist someone's sexual advances and being in love were two entirely different things.

"Roxas?" Axel asked quietly, pulling the blond out of his thoughts. Roxas turned and moved to straddle Axel's lap, looking into his concerned eyes with a small smile.

"Thanks," he murmured, and leaned in for a kiss. Axel pulled him close, one hand on his waist and the other at the back of his neck, thumb caressing his jaw. Roxas was more than content to sit here in Axel's lap for the rest of the day, and ran his hands slowly through Axel's hair and then down his arms, curled the fingers of his left hand around Axel's right, and wrapped the other around the man's neck to pull himself even closer to the warm body beneath his own.

"Man, I really need to get better timing," Xigbar's voice came suddenly from right behind them, and Roxas would have leapt out of Axel's lap if the man didn't have such a firm grip on him. "One of these days, my remaining eye is going to stop working out of pure self-defense."

"Shut up, Xigbar," Axel growled. Roxas slid off Axel's lap with a sigh, sitting next to him and facing Xigbar, who promptly threw a pair of gloves and a coat into his face. "What the hell is going on?"

"Seems like someone saw us bringing Roxas in last night," Xigbar shrugged, throwing another coat at Axel. "The Conclave came to meet him."

* * *

A/N: I seriously wasn't going to end the chapter here, but I've been having the damnedest time getting the next part to play out the way I wanted it to. This, darlings, is me giving up. But fear not, the fun I promised for this chapter is now going to open the next one!

A note on the characters: Rikku, Yuna, and Paine are obviously not fairies, but I just want you to know that I imagine they all look like they did in their default outfits for FFX-2, hence the comment on Rikku being dressed for the beach. Heh. Purple-boy is obviously Setzer, and for anyone who isn't aware of his original game: Setzer is a notorious gambler in FFVI and the owner of a ship called the Blackjack. I think it was the Blackjack. At any rate, he kicks so much more ass in VI than he does in KH2, so here he is.

And thank you so much to my reviewers, I don't know if I'd have it in me to continue this story if it weren't for the fact that I hate to leave you completely disappointed. So, uh, at least you know I'll always update eventually?


	6. Chapter 6: We May be Some Sort of Crazy

A/N: Random facts: there are seven places in the Phillipines that are called Roxas, and one of the former presidents of the Phillipines had the last name of Roxas. One of the places is Roxas, Palawan. I want everyone to know that I misread that as Padawan. (And if you don't believe me on this, go wiki "Roxas".)

I'm sorry I didn't explain more about the Conclave in this chapter, but they're really not important to the story. Still, I'll try to clear up their identities later on—though I'm hoping you'll have figured it out by then. And, on a sidenote: Damnit, DiZ, wtf are you doing in this chapter? You weren't supposed to be here! ...But thanks for the word count.

Warnings: OMG, so much sap. Damnit, Axel, stop being a dork.

Disclaimer: Sorry, if I owned Kingdom Hearts there would have been a Pocahontas world. What? It's one of my favorites!

* * *

_Chapter Six: We May be Some Sort of Crazy_

Xigbar had assured him that this meeting with the Conclave was just going to be a formality, a morbid sort of getting to know you between gangs. They were pretty much supposed to just hang around and trade insults, the Organization being made fun of because they had (yet again) gotten a child to join them, the Conclave being made fun of because none of the leaders could (or would) really fight and nobody actually _wanted _ to be a part of their group. There was, of course, going to be very little fighting—maybe Demyx was going to get a chance to show off his penchant for tsunamis, maybe Lexaeus was going to have to wave his tomahawk around a little. But it wasn't going to have to be anything for him to worry about, since he was new.

The illogical side of him decided that he wouldn't be in this situation if he hadn't been told not to worry. The bitter side of him thought Xigbar had purposely been fucking with him. But most of him was just focused on not dying.

He didn't think he was going to be able to dodge and swing fast enough for long enough, could feel himself tiring and eversoclose to panicking, which was not something he'd ever been prone to doing. At least not the way he was about to do it now, and that more than the thought of death unnerved him—to be utterly lost to his own fear, unable to form a single coherent thought when he tried so hard to base his entire life around his need for self-control. He couldn't afford to lose his mind, just like he apparently couldn't afford to lose his hood or his life.

And that was why, when the person he was fighting knocked both keyblades out of his hands in a move that was too fast for Roxas to follow, let alone block, he found himself falling backwards, crawling away from his enemy with his butt nearly dragging along the ground and smacking straight into a wall that he hadn't known was behind him. He found himself glancing away from the weapon in front of him, searching desperately for someone who could come to his rescue though he knew they were all too busy fighting themselves. When his eyes finally shot back to the person in front of him, all he seemed able to see was a triumphant smirk and the sun glinting tantalizingly off the sharp metal that was so close to impaling him. He didn't want to watch his own death, not when it happened so soon after he'd gotten out of his home, and he raised his left arm in front of his face, wishing with all of his might that Oathkeeper was clenched tightly in his fist where it ought to be.

A light filtered through his eyelids, burning bright orange-red, and the familiar weight of his weapon settled soothingly in his hand. His eyes snapped open and he stared at the dying light that was slowly receding from the keyblade for a split second before he jumped to his feet, swinging with all his might at the shocked man still poised to kill him. The light returned momentarily, seemingly lending strength to his already powerful swing and knocking the man backwards. Was this the manifestation of his magic, then? If it could call Oathkeeper to him, then...

Holding out his right hand, he wished for Oblivion as well. For a long, long moment, nothing happened. And then the black sword materialized in a bright white light, tendrils of...darkness?...swirling around the blade, and he was armed again, oddly rejuvenated, ready to jump back into the fight.

But everything, it seemed, had mysteriously stopped. He could see Eleven's scythe raised, could see three daggers, surrounded by lightning, in midair, aiming straight for the back of a man who had what could only be Demyx pushed against a wall. But none of it was moving.

"You're not supposed to be here," a lightly accented voice said from somewhere to his left, and he spun to meet this threat, backing away slightly with his keyblades poised to attack if necessary. "The Organization must not have the keyblades, Roxas."

"Who are you?" Roxas snarled, unnerved. "How do you know my name?"

"That is no concern of yours," the man replied, single visible eye staring, it seemed, right through him. "Just heed my warnings, Roxas, and run while you still can. You hold the keys to Kingdom Hearts, and the Organization will betray you to obtain it. You must leave now!"

"What are you talking about?" Roxas questioned angrily, curious despite himself, and didn't lower his guard. "Why should I listen to you? I don't even know who you are!"

"Who I am is not important, Roxas!" the man snapped. "Just get the keyblades away from the Organization. They can't have them. I won't—destroyed my—the Heartle—" The man's form was shimmering, blinking in and out of existence. Roxas stared uncertainly, jumped when a hand landed heavily on his shoulder.

"It's a hologram," a familiar accented voice spoke softly, and Roxas turned to stare up into the hood of the man from earlier that day. Luxord. "And a very good one at that. But if you really concentrate—" A common playing card appeared suddenly between his fingers and his companion flung it at the stranger. It passed through the still shimmering form and cracked into something behind it. The hologram disappeared entirely and Roxas stared at the metal object on the floor that was crackling with interrupted electricity.

And just like that, time seemed to resume itself—he looked up to see the daggers plunge into the man's back before Demyx punched him heavily in the face—and the fight was in full swing again, but he could only watch. He turned to Luxord to ask him what the hell all of that had been about, but the man was already gone.

"Kid!" Axel's familiar voice called suddenly, and Roxas turned to greet him, blue eyes still wide as Axel grabbed onto his shoulders. "Are you alright? I saw you call your keyblades. That was so awesome, you got your magic just a day after finding out magic was real! That's—"

"Axel," Roxas interrupted quietly, and the taller man fell silent instantly, nearly hidden green eyes narrowing in concern. "What's Kingdom Hearts?"

Axel opened his mouth uncertainly, brow furrowing with confusion, and seemed about to respond when a sharp cry of "Look out!" forced him to turn around just in time to get hit with a lightning spell. Roxas yelped, surprised and scared, staring down at Axel in concern for a brief moment (relieved to discover that the man was still alive, wide eyes looking utterly shocked, chest heaving with painful-looking breaths) before he moved to make his own attack. Unfortunately, the assailant was already disappearing into the fray, red robes billowing as he floated away. Snarling, Roxas fell to his knees beside a dazed-looking Axel, hands hovering uncertainly over his chest.

"Ow," the redheaded man said quite clearly, and levered himself slowly into a sitting position, ignoring the hands fluttering anxiously around him. "Seriously, fucking ow. I have never been happier to be a fire element in my entire fucking life." He reached up and tugged his hood back down into his eyes, shaking his head lightly.

"Are you alright?" Roxas asked concernedly, jerking his hand away from where it was nearly touching Axel's (apparently minor) injury. "How the hell are you alive after that?"

"My magic protects me," Axel muttered, pushing himself to his feet and pulling Roxas up with him. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a vial, grimacing as he swallowed the contents. "All better. Let's get back to the fight before somebody notices us standing around aimlessly."

"But—" Roxas hesitated, not wanting the man to overstress himself, and then nodded when a grin spread over Axel's face. He was obviously fine. How, Roxas didn't know, but damned if he wasn't going to find out after this fucking battle was over. "Let's stick together."

"...Always," Axel murmured, leaning over to press a brief kiss to Roxas' head before pulling away and calling his chakram to him in twin bursts of fire, just in time to spin around and block a swing from a burly man that had been attempting to sneak up on them. Schooling his expression, Roxas pressed his back against Axel's and smiled grimly at the three men running up to him with scimitars extended. With Axel behind him, he thought vaguely, there was no way he could lose.

-----

"I can't tell you until the Superior okays it, Roxas," Axel sighed, leading Roxas through the hallways the next day. "And I already told you I don't know who the hologram is. Can't you ask me a question I can answer without Xemnas siccing Saix on me?"

Roxas rubbed wearily at his temple and wondered idly who the hell Saix was. "I don't like not knowing things," he said shortly. "And I really don't want you to keep things from me."

"If I could tell you, I would," Axel insisted passionately, coming to a stop beside one of the many plain doors that were scattered throughout the castle and turning to look Roxas in the eyes, hand cupped around the short blond's jaw to tilt his head back. "You can trust me, Roxas, I swear it. And that's precisely why I'm bringing you here!" He pushed the door open with flair, grabbing for Roxas' hand and pulling him into the musty room.

"I'm surprised you even knew there was a library in here," Roxas said dryly, staring up at the shelves upon shelves of books surrounding him. They were surprisingly clear of dust. "How am I going to find anything here?"

Axel rubbed at the back of his head, grinning shakily down at Roxas. "Well, Xaldin and Larxene practically live in here, so I kind of figured we could ask them."

"I'm sure they'll be utterly thrilled by your strict adherence to the wording of the rules."

"Man, when'd you get so snippy?" Axel asked ruefully, shaking his head. The soft smile on his face softened the question. "_Did_ Xigbar molest you in your sleep? I knew he couldn't resist for long. Don't hide your feelings, it's okay to cry."

"I hope you fucking rot," Roxas grumbled, pushing the door shut as he stepped farther into the room.

"Hey," Axel murmured from behind him, and when Roxas turned to look at the man he found himself being pushed gently up against the side of a bookshelf, Axel's hands and hurt eyes keeping him pinned to the hard wood surface. "What exactly did the hologram say about Kingdom Hearts to make you be such a dick?"

Roxas turned his face away from the man's, not wanting to share any information when he wasn't getting any himself, but Axel didn't budge. He took a deep breath. "He said that I have the keys and you—all of you, not you in particular—would betray me to obtain it."

"Do you really think I'd do that, Roxas?" Axel asked softly, his grip on the boy's hip tightening almost painfully even as a gentle hand rested itself against his cheek. "Look at me." Roxas did as he was told, heart skipping a beat as the man pressed their foreheads together. His eyes, as intoxicating as absinthe, left him completely open and Roxas was once again blown away by the sheer emotion in them. "I won't tell you that others wouldn't betray you to get to Kingdom Hearts, because that would be lying. The Organization is ruthless. You know that. But I promised I'd take care of you, Roxas. I told you I'd be the one to kill you if they didn't want you. I'm promising, now, that I'd kill every goddamn one of them before I'd betray you."

"How can you be so sure?" Roxas asked shakily, curling a hand into the shirt covering Axel's chest. "You barely fucking know me."

Axel grinned. "'I fear / no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)'," he quoted softly, pressing his thumb to Roxas' lips when he opened his mouth to talk. "My heart won't let me hurt you. You might think I'm being ridiculous, but I knew from the moment you came into my life like you already owned it that you were the only future I was going to have."

"I do think you're ridiculous," Roxas said firmly, wrapping his arms around Axel's neck and pulling himself closer, "but I like you anyway. I can't believe you know e. e. cummings."

"A little bit of romance never killed anybody," Axel replied playfully, and pulled Roxas into a soft kiss, sliding his hands down the blond's back and flattening them against his butt to lift the shorter man and press him more firmly against the bookshelf. Roxas obligingly wrapped his legs around Axel's waist and arched into him, fighting back a whimper as Axel pulled away from his mouth and found a particularly sensitive spot at the base of Roxas' jaw.

"I'm beginning to understand Number Two's complaints about taking care of the boy," a faintly amused voice murmured, effortlessly breaking through Roxas' dazed state.

"Fucking damnit," Axel growled against the blond's neck. "One day I swear I'll get you alone and not be interrupted. Since when are you a patron of the library, Saix?"

"Though I can't claim Xaldin's excuse of being a one-time scientist, Eight, I at least like to hold myself to a certain level of intelligence," the controlled voice returned calmly. "I only wish the same could be said of the majority of the younger members, Larxene naturally being excepted."

"You flatter me, Saix," a familiar girl's voice chimed, and Roxas felt his face heat up as he realized that he and Axel had a small audience. "Though I can't help but wish you hadn't interrupted. I was waiting for the perfectly humiliating opportunity to announce my presence."

"I, for one, am grateful," a growling voice said. "If that had gone on much longer, I'm sure it would have interrupted my studies."

"Speaking of interrupting!" Axel butted in cheerfully as he slowly lowered Roxas back to his feet. "Would you mind giving Roxas here a nice little tour of the library, Xaldin? I thought he'd appreciate having something to do besides get lost and make out with me."

"First I want the two of you to promise that you'll never have sex in here," the harsh voice said. "Zexion would have a fit if you got stains on any of the books."

"No sex in the library, got it," Axel agreed amiably, holding his hands up placatingly. "So. Tour? I think he mostly wants books on magic and maybe some history or whatever, so he can get caught up with all they don't teach him Above."

"Very well," Xaldin sighed, frowning at Roxas. "Follow me. And if you two can't keep your hands to yourself, at least keep it hidden from me."

* * *

A/N: Wow that was a terrible ending. Anyway. Axel quoting e.e. cummings is pure fanservice, at least in that it makes me squee. Larxene likes hot man-on-man action? You better believe it. I fail at writing so bad it hurts? Oh yeah. Sorry about the long wait, etc. etc. Will try to update faster next time. No promises, though, holidays are bad. And also, I have a kitty, and every time I try to sit at the computer she attacks me! (Yes, this is a recent thing. We just got her a couple weeks ago and good LORD you should see my hands. We haven't had time to get her claws trimmed (no declawing for our kitty!), and she has some pretty damn sharp claws for being about eleven weeks old. ...We call her Little Vicious. (Her name is actually Luna.)) ...Man, the amount of parentheses in that sentence. XD

I'm really really uncertain about characterization in this chapter, and would like to take this moment to apologize profusely if I fucked anyone up. Also, if anyone can tell me how to get the umlauts (the two dots above a letter) in Saix's name, I will be FOREVER GRATEFUL. After five years of German classes, I know what the dots are called but haven't the foggiest idea how to form them. Fugginay.

And, finally, thank you like woah to everyone that came back! I love you guys in ways that ought to be illegal, but probably aren't. Please don't ever leave me, I promise I won't abandon this story!


	7. Chapter 7: Learning How to Love

A/N: Oh my god I'm so sorry. How long has it been since I've posted a chapter? I won't even bother explaining myself up here, you guys just get to reading. (Pee. Ess.: The title of this chapter? Totally a random choice. I wanted to get this up before I went to bed is all.)

…lol I have 123 reviews. (Umlaut on a lowercase I is ALT+0239. Just a reference for myself, guys.)

Warnings: Reno. Yes, I think he deserves his own warning. Oh, and it jumps around a bit. And, yay, another unplanned scene!

Disclaimer: The stuff you're familiar with? Belongs to someone else. Everything else is mine, MINE I SAY.

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_Chapter Seven: Learning How to Love_

Roxas was beyond bored. He felt like kind of a jerk even thinking that because Axel was very dedicated to keeping him entertained (to the point where he had once nearly gotten his head knocked off by Zexion when the usually-calm man found Axel groping him in a dark corner of the library), but the fact was that Roxas had a small variety of activities to keep him occupied. He hadn't left the mansion since he'd been brought into it, except for an uneventful night of patrolling with Xigbar and Xaldin, and he'd never had the attention span to keep doing the exact same thing for a week straight. So it was with a surprising amount of relief that one of Roxas' self-imposed study sessions (assisted by Xigbar, who was not only surprisingly knowledgeable about pretty much everything under the sun but was also a scarily good teacher) was interrupted by Saïx's calm voice informing Roxas that his presence had been requested by the Superior.

The walk to the meeting room was silent, Saïx seeming to be utterly disinterested in Roxas' very existence and Xigbar having been left to clean up the mess that he'd made. Normally, Roxas would have thoroughly enjoyed the rare moment with nobody talking, but that was nearly impossible in the blue-haired man's presence. Roxas always felt like the man was one wrong word away from losing his composure in a particularly disastrous way. There would be no relaxing of any sort with him around.

Leaning against the wall immediately outside of the throne room (as Roxas had taken to calling it—everyone else referred to it as The Room in a way where you could practically hear the capitals in their voices) was Axel, who was staring fixedly at the doors. He turned fluidly at the sound of their footsteps approaching him, and for a bare instant Roxas could see a blank look on the redhead's face that chilled him to the bone, but then it was gone and Axel was grinning as usual, stepping forward to pull Roxas into a tight hug, giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek before pulling away and glancing warily at Saïx.

"So, what's the occasion?" he asked brightly, resting a hand lightly on Roxas' hip and giving Saïx a cold smirk.

"That's between you and the Superior," Saïx responded calmly, already turning away from them and making his way down the hall. "I'd hate to be a third wheel."

"Aw, you know you can't resist Roxas' boyish charms!" Axel called after the blue-haired man, and shrugged when Roxas glared. "Hey, don't look at me like that. We all know he's completely enamored with Xemnas."

"That's disturbing," Roxas announced.

"_You_ haven't had the wonderful opportunity of catching them in the act," Axel grumbled, looking disgusted. "Here I was, just walking down the hallway, minding my own business—"

"Somehow, I'm completely doubting that."

"—and Saïx's door was open just a crack. Concerned, because we all know how the man covets his privacy, I peeked my head inside to make sure nobody was up to any mischief. And what do I see?"

"Axel, shut up now," Roxas growled, nose wrinkling in disgust. He'd have to be an idiot not to realize where the story was going. "Let's just find out what Xemnas wants."

"Aw, Roxas," Axel tried, but the shorter boy just shook his head and pushed open one of the doors. He had the distinct feeling that Axel was pouting behind him, but paid it no mind—he focused instead on the figure of Xemnas seated on his usual chair in midair. Roxas was already starting to hate this setup.

"Eight. Roxas." The Superior greeted them in his usual monotone voice, eyes narrowed down at them. "It has come to my attention that the boy has yet to leave the mansion, as there has been precious little for Two to attend to. This being said, and our supplies dwindling as they have been due to Nine's recent missions, I have decided that the two of you will attend to our shopping. I would advise you not to dawdle."

"Sure thing, Superior!" Axel said as cheerfully as usual, giving Xemnas a short salute. The silver-haired man simply nodded, raising a hand to dismiss them.

"We're going _shopping?_" Roxas asked as soon as the doors had closed behind them.

Axel grinned at him, looking, if it was even possible, happier than ever. "Yeah, you know. We like to blow shit up a lot more than you'd think—don't you watch the news? There's been a lot of explosions lately in strange places. It's either us or the Conclave most of the time, getting information or killing our enemies and all that."

"And there's an actual store that we're going to?" Roxas continued in disbelief, shaking his head. "I mean. Not some shady guy in an alley with a beat up suitcase full of dynamite?"

"Well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" Axel replied, winking at Roxas as he rested his arm on its usual spot across Roxas' shoulders. Roxas glared at him, but didn't bother asking for more information.

.

"_Men On Fire_." Roxas muttered, staring up at the sign with wide eyes. "Am I the only one that sees something wrong with that name?"

Axel snickered. "No. That's actually why it's called _Men On Fire_."

"You mean there's actually somebody else in this world who has the same terrible sense of humor as you do?"

"Well, Reno's like the older brother I never actually had," Axel admitted sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head. "Hell, for all I know, we could actually be related. We've got similar enough features. We helped each other out before he got into the Turks and I became Number VIII. When you're a little kid in the Underground and some guy decides to take care of you, he uh. Kind of rubs off."

"I hope you two don't have the same taste in men," Roxas said blandly.

A loud laugh, similar to Axel's, called his attention to the doorway of the large store. There was another lanky redhead there, leaning in the frame with his arms crossed. Behind him stood a stoic man with dark skin and even more piercings in his ear than Luxord, a pair of sunglasses hiding his eyes from view.

"Don't worry, kiddo," the new redhead said in greeting as the two of them walked up to them. Even his voice was similar to Axel's and, frankly, if the two of them weren't somehow related, Roxas would eat his keyblades. Up close, he could even see a crescent-shaped scar at the corner of each of the new man's eyes. "I lean more towards tall, dark, and handsome myself. You're perfectly safe from my molestations."

"Good thing, too," Axel said pleasantly, stepping forward and giving the other redhead a brief hug. "Because then I'd have to kill you, Reno."

"Ooh, you're serious about this one," the man, apparently named Reno, said with a leer. "Well, I guess your _big brother_ better give blondie here his blessings, eh? Since I mean so much to you and all."

"Oh, stuff it," Axel responded amiably. "We're here on business."

"Business and pleasure are best mixed, if you ask me," Reno grinned, and sidestepped Axel to grip Roxas' hand and give it a strong shake. "Name's Reno. My partner back there is Rude. And your name?"

"Uh, it's Roxas," Roxas replied a bit uncertainly, and stiffened when Reno wrapped an arm around his shoulders where Axel's usually was and was led into the store. He glanced over at Axel, who only mouthed what looked like 'good luck' to him before turning to strike up a conversation with Rude. Roxas frowned as the two of them casually stepped into a back room.

"So, Roxas," Reno said slowly, drawing out the last syllable longer than necessary. "How long have you and Axel known each other?"

"A couple weeks, I suppose," Roxas said coldly, and attempted to shrug off Reno's arm. Great. The last thing he'd wanted was to get a Talk from a criminal. But Reno just stared at him, forcing Roxas to a stop before he pulled his arm away. Roxas stared back up at him and absently began twisting the rings on his fingers again.

"And he's already buying you stuff." Reno gestured at the rings, and shook his head when Roxas gawked at him in surprise. "People tend to play with things that they're not used to wearing. And Axel actually asked me to pick them up for him, so I recognize them. He was really specific, which isn't like him. So. He's _serious_."

"I know," Roxas said, wondering where Reno was going with this. "We've had a conversation that was sort of about that. Kind of. Anyway, he's really easy for me to read."

"Are _you_ serious about him?" Reno asked, coupling the question with a glare. "Because, if you're not, it's my duty as his big brother to kick your scrawny ass."

"I barely even know him!" Roxas growled. Reno's eyebrows rose, the expression somehow looking evil instead of disbelieving like it should have, and Roxas rethought what he was going to say. "Look, I really do like him. If anybody else shoved me against a wall like he does, I'd beat the shit out of them. I'm not really committing to anything yet, but I'm not leading him on just because he's attractive or useful to me or something like that, all right?"

"Just making sure," Reno said evenly, grinning at him in a way that distinctly reminded him of Axel. "So, has he gotten into your pants yet?"

"Oh god," Roxas muttered, burying his face in his hands in mortification. "You're as bad as he is."

"That's what big brothers are there for," the redhead said in a voice that was entirely too chipper. "At least I don't have to lecture the two of you about safe sex, since you can't get pregnant."

Roxas was thankfully saved from the rest of the conversation by the ringing of a bell that sounded as the door to the shop was opened. He looked over in the direction of the new customers curiously, finally taking the time to notice that the store seemed to sell fireworks out front—and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Shit!" he hissed, ducking behind Reno as an entirely-too-familiar blond boy entered the shop with yet another redhead. What the hell were they doing in the Underground?

"What's wrong?" Reno asked curiously, trying to twist around to look at Roxas. "They trying to kill you or something?"

"No," Roxas sighed. "They're friends of mine. Or used to be—they think I'm dead."

Reno's lips formed a perfect 'o' shape as he realized what was going on, and he nodded, smiling again. Without a word, he led Roxas into the back room that Axel and Rude had disappeared into earlier, and the other two looked up as they entered. Axel was handing Rude some munny as he took the bags marked with a generic 'Have a nice day!' and yellow happy face.

"What's up?" Axel asked curiously, eyes on Roxas. "Reno piss you off that much already?"

"Nah, he loves me," Reno answered for Roxas, winking at his fellow redhead. "Who he doesn't seem to love are these two kids out in the store right now, browsing my fireworks displays, undoubtedly looking for the perfect thing to get into a minor amount of trouble. Better get them out, eh?"

"Making enemies without leaving the mansion, Roxas?" Axel asked curiously, stepping forward and sticking his head out the doorway. Roxas distantly heard Reno greet the two out in the store with a casual "Yo!" as he leaned into Axel's side and peeked out as well. "Man, you could take them down in a second."

"But then they'd know I was alive," Roxas said pointedly, relaxing a little as Axel rubbed gently at his back. "The blond's Tidus, the redhead's Wakka. They were friends of ours."

"They'd probably realize something was up if you kicked their asses, then."

"If my brother finds out I'm alive, he'll come to the Underground looking for me. I'm not getting him into this."

Axel pulled him completely back into the room and over to a bench Roxas hadn't noticed before. They sat on it, side by side, and Roxas closed his eyes and listened to Axel's breathing and uncharacteristic silence. He didn't open his eyes until Axel's fingers twined themselves around his own, and then he just stared up at Axel's calm, thoughtful expression for a few minutes. Axel noticed his gaze and grinned down at him briefly, before leaning over for a kiss.

"Okay, coast's clea—woah!" The two of them jumped apart as Reno's voice came from seemingly nowhere. "Man, Roxas, was that just an excuse to get rid of me?" Axel looked up at the ceiling with a mournful sigh.

"I swear, every moment we have is interrupted. Xigbar, Saïx, Reno…I just can't win!"

"The world's definitely out to get you," Roxas agreed casually, standing up but not letting go of Axel's hand. He avoided eye contact with Reno when the older man gave him a pointed look. "But I think that's our cue to leave."

"If I jump you in an alley, do you think some homeless drug addict will interrupt us?" Axel asked thoughtfully. Roxas just rolled his eyes and wondered why he had such bad taste in men.

.

Xigbar was leaving The Room as they returned. He gave them a jaunty wave as he passed by them, and something about that made Axel's ever-present grin widen.

"I see you've finally returned," Xemnas said without preamble as the door slammed shut behind them. There was a spark in his cold yellow eyes that wasn't usually there, and Roxas tilted his head at the man curiously. "Xigbar has just given me his report on you, Roxas. I'm delighted to say that he has been quite pleased with your progress and dedication, and I therefore don't see any reason to wait yet another day. You are now officially Number Thirteen—you may do as you wish tonight, and tomorrow you will receive your tattoo. And your bedroom, I suppose. We'll need time to prepare it. You may go."

"Lucky number thirteen, eh?" Axel murmured, pulling Roxas close as they left the room. "Well, since you don't have a room of your own yet and I think Xigbar's about to break, would you like to see mine?"

Roxas stared up at him a bit uncertainly, twisting at his rings again.

"No pressure, Roxas." Axel smiled down at him, a disappointed look in his eyes. "I just thought it would be nice, you know?"

Roxas ducked his head and frowned at the floor, thinking about what Reno had said. He couldn't say he was as serious about their relationship as Axel was, not yet—but other than that, the only reason he could think of not to stay with the older man was his own silly fears. He knew Axel wouldn't push him into anything, knew he wouldn't regret anything they might do when he woke up, and knew that he really was inordinately fond of the tall red-haired arsonist…so why not?

"Sure," he said, feeling the corners of his eyes crinkle as he smiled up at the man—a truer smile than he'd given anybody in a long time. "I'd love to."

* * *

A/N: Lol, I fail at the world. :D Okay, so I actually had to spend a long time re-planning this story—my old laptop died completely, I haven't been able to get it fixed (if it's even fixable), and let me just tell you how insanely depressing this is for me. I lost a _lot_ of writing and planning, and when I get set-backs like that I fall into a major slump. Which is what happened. And then I started writing a new story, and then I started meme-writing with someone, and now hopefully I'm back! I'm really hoping to get into the swing of this story again so I can get it finished and begin some serious work on other things.

Don't worry, things start getting interesting again in the next chapter. Thanks again for coming back, guys! I'll update faster next time, I swear.


	8. Chapter 8: But Hold On Tight

A/N: SORRY I LIED. I'm a terrible, terrible author. Oh god. It has been an exceedingly terrible time for writing for me, I'm afraid. I'm going to try painfully hard to start updating on a far more regular basis, I really am—bad timing for that, with NaNoWriMo coming up in a month and all, but dear lord I am a horrible, horrible person and oh my god. D: (Yes, I'm aware that was incoherent and made no discernible sense. I swear that's how my mind actually works.)

Warnings: Very slight mentions of drug abuse.

Disclaimer: Dude, I _wish_ I could make video games.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Eight: But Hold On Tight_

Roxas woke up as calmly as over, eyes sliding open to allow him to stare at the ceiling above his bed. Only he wasn't in his bed, and for a long moment he almost panicked—he could feel the warmth of another human body beside his, one long arm thrown haphazardly across his chest, and he couldn't for the life of him remember how he could have gotten where he was. But then he looked to the side and saw Axel (his face half shoved into the pillow, mouth slightly open) and it all came back to him in a flash: agreeing to go to sleep with Axel, being firmly led to his room, everything that had happened...

They hadn't had actual sex. Roxas wasn't ready for that. But he'd let Axel undress him and push him onto the bed, and the man had whispered a million soft endearments in between long, tender kisses, and touched him almost reverently, everything so slow and intense that Roxas hadn't been able to think until he'd finished. Axel had seemed perfectly content to just hold him afterwards, but Roxas would have none of it—he'd pulled himself from his happily exhausted daze to return the favor. He had no experience touching anyone but himself, but Axel responded to him like he was amazing, and they'd laid tangled up together afterwards until one or both of them had fallen asleep.

Now, in the harsh sunlight of early morning, Roxas could hardly believe what he'd let himself do the night before. It was completely surreal, and it scared the hell out of him. He could practically feel the word 'love' creeping up in the back of his mind, but it was far too soon for such a thing, and that not-thought is what finally forced him to slide out from under Axel's arm and touch his bare feet to the soft carpet floor. He didn't glance back at the redhead as he pulled on his pants and walked over to the one open door on the far side of the room, more than a little relieved to discover that it was a bathroom. He kind of wondered if his room would have a private bathroom as well, and took a brief moment to consider how much it must cost to live in this place before shaking it off as he washed off his hands. He dried them off slowly and then, curious, pulled open the medicine cabinet. There were several glass bottles of various colors in there, shoved in with obviously no order in mind. One of them looked like it had a crack in it, but nothing was spilling out. He took it down and ran a finger over the crack, feeling only smooth glass, and turned the bottle so he could read the label—and almost dropped it. What the hell did Axel have Ethers in his cabinet for?

"Hey, babe," a voice purred suddenly from behind him and long arms wrapped themselves around his waist. Axel pressed a sleepy kiss to the side of his head and trailed warm fingers down his stomach. Roxas felt his face flush and he pulled himself out of Axel's light grip, brandishing the Ether bottle at the man like some sort of a weapon.

"I'm obviously missing something here," he said, shaking it a little. "I've heard of this stuff—some of the kids in my school are addicted to it. Why do you have it in your medicine cabinet?"

"Because for magic-users, it's medicine," Axel explained with a small smile, like he was trying not to laugh. "Everyone has some sort of magical ability in them, though most people never get to hone it. Each spell we use drains us of our magical energy until it gets to the point where we can't use magic any more. The Ether gives us that energy back pretty much instantly, where you'd have to wait hours for it to build up again if you didn't have them. I guess when you take too many Ethers, you have a build-up of magic that just doesn't fit with your body, so it acts like a drug instead. Guess that's why the first thing you learn when you're developing your magic skills is to know how many Ethers you can handle. I never would have even thought to use it as a drug."

"That's...interesting," Roxas murmured, eyes on the bottle again. He turned back to the cabinet and put it back in its spot on the shelf. "Are these all magical then? I've never seen anything like this."

"Man, this isn't a lesson I should be giving you," Axel complained with a sharp frown. "Xigbar can tell you about them in one of your study sessions, can't he? It's too early in the morning for this and I want to take a shower."

"And here I was thinking you just wanted to hang all over me," Roxas teased softly, and that perked Axel right up. "But far be it from me to deny you the pleasures of a shower."

"I hate showers, actually," Axel murmured, pushing Roxas up against the counter. "Water isn't exactly the best thing for me to be submerged in, you know. I'd much rather be under you."

"I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind for a later time," Roxas teased back, smiling up at him. "But I'm pretty sure you don't want to be interrupted again, and I don't think we'll be lucky more than once. You should probably take your shower."

"I hate it when you're right," the redhead sighed theatrically, and pulled Roxas with him as he went to turn on the water. "So what do you say we bathe together? That way I get to put my hands all over you _and_ we get clean."

"Yeah, sure," Roxas agreed, and couldn't help but smile at the wide grin Axel gave him, though he eyed the steam coming off the water with some trepidation. "But only if you turn the heat on the water down."

"It's not that hot!" Axel protested, but turned up the cold water regardless. Then he spun around and grabbed Roxas around the waist, practically lifting the smaller man off his feet as he stepped backwards into the tub. Roxas made a rather embarrassing squeak as he stumbled in after him, kicking off his pants on the way and nearly slipping on the wet floor from the position he was in even as Axel steadied him and swooshed the shower curtains closed. It was considerably darker after that, and somehow infinitely more intimate, and Roxas was almost surprised to find himself pulling Axel down to a kiss as soon as he was sure they were steady. And this time Axel did actually pick him up, pushing him against the cool tub wall as Roxas wrapped his legs around the tall man's waist and ran shaky fingers over his chest.

"Maybe I shouldn't have suggested this," Axel murmured with a soft chuckle, pressing their foreheads together. "Dunno if you'll be able to keep your hands off me. I really did mean to get clean, you know."

"You could always try putting me down," Roxas responded dryly, unfolding his legs. To his surprise, Axel actually did so—albeit a tad reluctantly. "And hand over the shampoo."

"Mood killer," Axel announced with a shake of his head, stepping into the spray of water to get to the back of the shower, where he apparently kept his shampoo. He flipped open the cap and poured a good amount onto Roxas' head (only stopping when the blond smacked him), and then poured some into his own hand and replaced the bottle.

Roxas found himself watching Axel as he slowly rubbed the shampoo into his hair. He studied the man's body, watched rivulets of water run down his chest, and then jerked his eyes back up to where the man's long fingers were already rinsing the suds from his hair, which had darkened a bit with the water. Axel stood with most of his body as far away from the spray of water as possible, leaning back so only his hair was getting wet. He wondered idly how his life had come to this, that he could be watching a criminal in his most private moments and finding it almost painfully endearing.

When Axel moved out of the water, the two slid around each other awkwardly, and Roxas immersed himself in the spray, closing his eyes as the water beat down on his face. He felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, a half of a smile settling itself on his lips, and didn't even jump when Axel gently pulled him backwards. The redhead was oddly quiet as he washed Roxas' back, and then slid his arms around him and rubbed soft circles in his chest with the washcloth in one hand as the other slid teasingly down his stomach--

And there was a sudden loud pounding on the bathroom door.

"I know what you two are doing in there!" Xigbar's voice filtered through, and both of them groaned. "Wrap it up and get out, already, Roxas needs his tattoo, and the Superior wants to see you, Axel!"

"Well, at least we had last night," Axel grumbled, pushing the washcloth in one of Roxas' hands and pushing open the curtain to step out of the tub. Acting on impulse, Roxas leaned out to wrap himself around Axel and press a soft kiss to the other's spine. When he looked up, Axel twisted to the side and stared down at Roxas with an entirely too soft look. Roxas found himself blushing and immediately jerked back into the tub, closing the curtains again.

"Go get dressed," he said in as monotone of a voice as he could manage. "I'll be out in a minute." He almost jumped out of his skin when Axel laughed.

"You're entirely too cute," the man said as he moved around the bathroom, and Roxas had to resist the urge to open the curtains again and throw the washcloth at him.

--

Roxas stared at the machine in Zexion's hand, holding back a wince. Logically, he had known what a tattoo entailed, but this thing was...well. It looked like it meant business. Hell, it looked like you could use it to stick a needle right through a man's head. Okay, yeah, it wasn't big at all, and it looked like it fit in Zexion's hand perfectly—but that didn't mean he liked it.

"Do I have to get one?" he asked uncertainly, glancing up at Zexion's impassive face. "Needles aren't really, you know, my thing."

"Xemnas insists we get them for a reason that's entirely beyond my comprehension," Zexion responded calmly, putting the machine down and crossing his arms. "So, yes, you have to get one. Have you thought about where you want it?"

"Not really," Roxas replied slowly. Which was actually a lie—he knew exactly where he had wanted to get the thing. But now, faced with the tool that would be putting the ink in his skin, he wasn't thinking it was such a good idea.

Zexion eyed Roxas thoughtfully, frowning as he did so. "You'll figure it out soon enough. Demyx had a hard time deciding where he wanted his until we got together."

"Where does he have his?" Roxas asked curiously. "And how did the two of you get together?"

"He has his on his upper thigh," Zexion said, indicating just where by tapping a finger to his inner thigh, high up enough that Roxas had to fight off a blush. "And let's just say that the story of how we got together starts with 'I needed to find a way to stop his nervous babbling' and ends with 'you should be glad I sanitize everything in here'."

Roxas actually felt his face flush this time, and he fought the urge to jump off the chair Zexion had told him to sit in. The older man just smirked and began talking again: "And I don't think it's necessary to have yours that well hidden, don't worry. While Xemnas and Saïx both chose to have theirs hidden way down at the base of their spines and you don't even _want_ to know where Lexaeus' is, Larxene has hers on a part of her breast that can be easily seen if she were to wear a low-cut shirt and mine is simply on my temple. You'd be able to see it if I pushed my bangs back behind my ear. As for you, well, I've noticed that you have yet to take off that wristband of yours."

"My brother bought it for me," Roxas muttered, a bit unnerved that Zexion had figured out exactly where Roxas had been thinking of. He jumped a little when Zexion's hand suddenly appeared in his sight and slid the band off before lifting his hand.

"We could do it on your wrist," he said calmly. "I assure you it's perfectly safe, and if you don't take off the wristband nobody will know it's there. Though you might not want to wear it when you go on missions. You don't want anybody to recognize you due to an accessory like this—assuming, of course, there's anybody left to do so."

Roxas very carefully ignored the reminder that he'd soon be killing complete strangers for a living. "Well, if you're absolutely sure it's safe," he consented a bit hesitantly. It really was the best place he could think of, especially since it didn't require him to take off a single article of clothing.

"I believe I've already told you it is," the short man murmured, leaning over to grab some alcohol swabs. "Since the needle penetrates your skin, I'm disinfecting the area where the tattoo's going to be. Don't worry if your skin feels irritated and itchy afterwards, it's healing itself up. When the scabs form, don't even think about picking at them. I don't want to have to do this a second time."

"Right," Roxas agreed faintly, trying not to shift nervously as Zexion pulled on some gloves that he plucked out of a box—but he couldn't help tensing as the machine was brought over to his skin. Tilting his head back, he decided to make a concentrated study of the ceiling.

"It might sting," Zexion said tersely, tightening his grip on Roxas' arm. "Don't move."

Roxas didn't even nod.

--

"I'm going to take you shopping," Axel announced as soon as Roxas stepped into the room, grinning like a maniac. Demyx was beside him, his smile crazier than the redhead's, and he bounced excitedly in place. "Clothes shopping."

"Yeah, it's the least we can do since we burnt down your house," the blond added earnestly.

"I _paid_ you guys to do that," Roxas felt obligated to point out. "You don't owe me anything."

"But we want to!" Demyx insisted. "I mean, as much as I'm sure Axel would love to have you walking around naked all the time, I don't think everyone else would appreciate it. Except maybe Lexaeus, since he seems to have this thing for smaller guys. It's kind of creepy if you think about it, I guess, but that's okay because it's probably his fault that Zexion is so--"

"I don't want to know!" Roxas yelped, covering his ears with a wince. "That's just way too much information, okay?"

"Awww," Demyx pouted.

"Let's just go, kid," Axel said, grabbing Roxas' wrists to tug the boy's hands away from his head. Roxas made an aborted whimpering noise, trying to twist his left arm away, and Axel let go immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked, brow furrowing in worry.

"Nothing," Roxas replied hastily, shaking his head at the disbelieving look he was given. "Really. It's just the tattoo. It's kind of sore."

"Of course it is," Axel said soothingly, and casually grabbed Roxas' right hand. "It'll be like that for a bit, but it goes away soon enough. Now are you going to come, or are we going to have to buy clothes for you by ourselves and hope we get the size right?"

Roxas stared at Axel for a moment, taking in the solid black clothing, and then turned his attention to Demyx' multiple bracelets, the skull on his t-shirt, and the strange lime green sneakers that graced his feet (one untied).

"I'm going with you," he decided, brushing past the two of them and heading in what he hoped was the right direction. He ignored Demyx' excited whooping and Axel's soft chuckle, and continued: "I don't even want to know what the two of you would come back with."

"Hey, we wouldn't get you something that we didn't think you'd like!" Demyx said brightly, walking—Roxas did a double-take and sighed—no, _skipping_ beside him.

"Or at the very least something that I really wanted to see you in," Axel agreed heartily, wrapping his arm around Roxas' waist and pulling the blond close to him. "But maybe I should get you that french maid outfit anyway."

"I'll rip your entrails out with a dull spork," Roxas said darkly, awkwardly punching Axel in the back though he knew it wasn't going to hurt. "And make you eat them."

"I don't think Axel would live long enough after the entrail-tearing-out to make that worthwhile," Demyx said sensibly. "Or maybe that would turn him into a zombie! And then he'd eat your brains. With the spork you dug his entrails out with!"

"You really know how to ruin a perfectly good line, don't you?" the smaller blond grumbled, momentarily losing step with Axel and almost tripping over his own feet trying to correct himself.

"It's a gift," Demyx replied cheekily.

"Play nice, children," Axel chided softly, and Roxas found that he couldn't stop himself from laughing softly. This was...nice. Weird, but nice. He let himself relax and actually leaned into Axel, wrapping his arm around the other's thin waist. His eyes drifted closed of their own accord as Demyx and Axel struck up a separate conversation regarding where they were going to take Roxas first. He could almost forget that he was in the presence of two paid killers, forget that he didn't really belong in this place with these people shopping for clothes with money that wasn't his own or his father's. He was far too comfortable here. There was just one thing missing.

"Hey, Axel?" he began curiously, opening his eyes to look up at his...well, his boyfriend, he supposed—and stopped dead in his tracks. Somewhere in the crowd he thought he'd seen a flash of silver, the contours of a familiar face and something astonishingly yellow. His heart was suddenly beating a mile a minute because he'd thought he'd seen something that definitely didn't belong where it was.

"Roxas?" he heard Axel ask curiously, and he jumped at the familiar voice. "Roxas, what's wrong?" He glanced over at the redhead and then turned back to the crowds, searching for the boy he'd just seen. But he didn't see even the faintest hint again, and he decided he had just been imagining things. After all, it'd only been a week since he'd disappeared. Even if anyone had discovered where he'd disappeared to, he was sure nobody would let a civilian go looking for him yet.

"Sorry," he murmured, eyes scanning the street once more. "I just thought I saw something weird. Listen, do you guys have any good ice cream places around here?"

"Ice cream?" Demyx asked uncertainly behind him, but Axel just grinned.

"Babe," he purred silkily, hooking a finger in a belt-loop of Roxas' pants to pull him in again. "You are in for one hell of a treat."

* * *

A/N: So, uh. Hope the length made up for the time it took me to write this? I know, I know, it absolutely didn't. Anyway, I mentioned in my opening notes that I was going to try for a more regular basis. Considering my complete inability to concentrate, I'm going to try for a semi-realistic attempt at updating once every two weeks. Of course, I am not at all promising that I'll be able to manage that...but we can all hope, can't we? So, yeah. Wish me luck, everyone!


	9. Chapter 9: Let the Cards Fall

Be A/N: Oops. I got so caught up in coding my new website (link on my profile!), that I completely failed to realize that time was, in fact, going by. And so this is late just, like, not six months late. :3 SO ANYWAY.

Thank you very much, everyone, for your continuing support. I would like to apologize for anyone who has reviewed who I have not responded to, and also for my complete inability to keep a simple promise. I mean, you'd think writing wouldn't be that hard for me to do, but nooo I have to spend months writing a SINGLE CHAPTER. And these chapters are _short_. Gawd. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.

Warnings: Gambling, hooray! Okay, not much, but yeah. Uh. Language? A single racy theme? Het? YES, YOU READ THAT. I'M WARNING FOR HET.

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom hearts I would be rich. Also the story would have ended up with a threesome, and Axel and Roxas would have gotten their happily ever after together.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Nine: Let the Cards Fall_

Roxas curled up on himself discontentedly, not quite cold enough to shiver. But there was heat missing, a lot of heat, and he wondered why Axel wasn't in bed where he was supposed to be. Of course, it was quite likely that his bedmate had just gotten up to go to the bathroom (and if that was the case, he didn't want to look...unless the redhead was in the shower, then it was okay), except the bed felt like all the warmth from the second body had already siphoned off into the air. Which meant that Axel had been gone for quite a while. The cooling air had probably been what had woken him up, and he made a soft disgruntled noise as he slid from the bed, promising himself vengeance on Axel.

After taking a quick shower and pulling on some of the clothes Axel and Demyx had bought him yesterday (Axel had tried to sneak in several articles of clothing that Roxas was sure he would never wear—including a rather lacy thong that had made Demyx crack up), he made to wander down the hallways. He wasn't sure where Axel was, but he _was_ fairly certain that he'd be back soon. After all, if he'd known he was going to be gone long, wouldn't he have left a note or something? So maybe he'd gone to get breakfast or something. He thought about heading to the kitchen, but the sound of feet hurriedly smacking against the floor had him turning a different corner—at which point something ran into him with a rather dismayed sound.

"Hello," Roxas murmured calmly, staring at the tiny blond girl that had fisted her hands in the front of his shirt to keep herself steady. The girl glanced up at him and then a blush spread across her cheeks and she jerked out of his grip, nearly tripping over her feet as she backed away. "...Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry," the girl said softly, not answering the question. She glanced up at him from behind her long bangs, a rather terrified look in her eyes. "I—I didn't meant to run into you, I wasn't watching where I was going..."

"It's fine," he hurried to assure her, holding his hands up placatingly. He kept his voice gentle, eyebrows furrowing in concern when even that made the girl jump. He looked her over curiously, wondering where the girl had come from, and she shifted nervously under his gaze. "Really. It was an accident."

The girl continued to gaze at him with wary eyes for a long moment. "I'm Namine," she eventually volunteered, voice still soft. "I haven't seen you before."

"I've only been here for a little over a week," he offered, and the girl nodded as if that explained everything. "I'm Roxas."

"Oh, you're the one with the keyblades!" Namine responded, and there was suddenly a soft smile on her face. She seemed genuinely pleased with this fact, and the wary look in her eyes disappeared almost instantly. Roxas blinked slowly, bemused. There was something oddly familiar about that smile and the glint in her eyes, but he couldn't quite place it. "Marluxia was telling me about you."

"Marluxia?" Roxas questioned slowly, wondering who the hell that was. His confusion must have shown on his face, because Namine cocked her head to the side curiously.

"The two of you fought when Axel brought you in?" she clarified uncertainly, nodding as his eyes brightened in realization. "He told me that he was really surprised at how good of a fighter you are."

"Yeah, I got that impression already," Roxas chuckled. "Are you his sister or something?"

"Oh, no!" Namine even managed a slight giggle. "He's my...guardian. I'm a witch, you see. A mem—"

"Ah, Namine, that's where you've gotten too!" a deep voice called out suddenly, interrupting her, and Roxas watched with narrow eyes as the girl flinched when a hand landed on her shoulder. "I see you've met Roxas."

Namine nodded mutely, glancing up at him from behind her bangs again. Roxas found his hands moving towards his blades as he took in Marluxia's pinkish-brown (more pink than brown, to be honest) hair and the rather manic glint in his eyes.

"We were just talking," Roxas snapped, shoving his hands in his pockets. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to defend that fact.

"I can see that," Marluxia responded slowly, raising an interested eyebrow at him. "Did Namine tell you anything...interesting?"

"No, not really," Roxas replied thoughtfully, staring up at the man coldly. "It's nice of you to take care of her."

"Well," Marluxia began with a smile that Roxas didn't like at all, "it would be a shame to let talent such as hers go to waste, wouldn't it, Namine?" He didn't even wait for a response, putting a hand on Namine's back and slowly turning her around. "Now, we really must get going. It was lovely seeing you again, Number Thirteen."

Roxas just inclined his head, eyes narrowing, and watched Marluxia usher Namine away. There was something so obviously off about the two of them that it was almost painful, but he knew (with a certain amount of bitterness) that there was nothing he could do about it. And so, with a rather exasperated shake of his head, he continued on his trek to the kitchens.

Once there, he was rather annoyed to discover that Axel _wasn't_. In fact, the place was entirely empty—there weren't even any dishes left in the sink. With a disgruntled glare at nothing in particular, he slammed some stuff around and made himself a few sandwiches. Once they were done, it was simple enough to grab a bottle of chocolate milk (he had a bit of a sweet tooth) and storm back out of the kitchen. He stormed through the hallways, doing his best not to drop anything as he ate one-handedly, and started looking for...well, for anyone. He figured that he wasn't going to find Axel any time soon, and so he pretty much just wanted to find something to do. He was probably going to end up in the library again.

And sure enough, twenty minutes and three sandwiches later, he found himself drawing close to the library doors. He could feel his eyebrows furrowing as he heard several voices from inside, one of which was a vaguely familiar and entirely too cheerful girl's voice. He could tell that it wasn't Larxene's, if only because she didn't sound like she was making fun of everybody, and that was very curious. In the time he'd been at the mansion so far, he'd only ever seen people outside of the Organization once. And so, curiosity risen, he pushed open the doors and wandered around the shelves inside.

"Hey, who's there?" a calm voice called eventually, apparently hearing him coming, and Roxas turned the corner and saw who he was looking for. It was actually the same girls from before, but this time Rikku was sitting close beside Xigbar, who had an arm around her. He almost stopped in midstep when he saw that—he really couldn't think of a more unlikely combination. But it was what it was, and Rikku soon bounced out of her seat, sending playing cards flying everywhere, to give Roxas an excited hug.

"Oooh, it's the little cutey!" she practically purred, ignoring the death glare he was trying not to focus on her chest. "Xigbar's told me all about you! I can't believe you beat Marluxia, you're tougher than you look!"

"Hey, I'm startin' to get jealous over here, babe," Xigbar called over, sounding like he was trying not to laugh. "Why don't you drag the kid over and let him join the game?"

"...What are you playing?" Roxas asked warily, eyeing the table as the blonde girl tugged him over.

"Poker!" Rikku announced cheerfully, flouncing into her seat and pushing him into the chair beside hers. "Luxord's winning like _always_. If we keep this up, we're going to lose Valefor next!"

"Valefor, the dragon?" Roxas questioned curiously, and this seemed to startle everyone. Even the other two girls (who had previously been ignoring the interactions to wait for a time when they could get Roxas' attention long enough to say hello) looked up at the question almost immediately.

"How do you know what Valefor is?" Paine asked, her voice suspicious.

"I, uh, read a lot," Roxas murmured, trying not to sound as uncertain as he was. "I've been spending a lot of time researching things because I'm from Above. Valefor's supposed to be a pretty good first level Summon, but Summoners were supposed to have died out before Hollow Bastion was built."

"Well, of course they have, silly!" Rikku laughed brightly, but Roxas couldn't help but think her laugh sounded a little nervous. "I wasn't referring to the real thing, just to Yuna's motorcycle."

"...I see," Roxas said softly, noncomittally, and he saw the three girls exchange a look. So Yuna was a Summoner, and apparently a strong one. That was more than a little interesting, and he filed the information away in case he needed it some day. "Anyway, I've never played Poker before. The most difficult card game I've ever played with my brother was Go Fish. We kind of started teaching ourselves how to fight with swords when we were six instead of playing regular games."

"Poker's a good game," Xigbar said, reaching around Rikku to pat Roxas on the back. "And it's simple enough, though gambling can get complicated. You ever gambled?"

"My mom used to let me scratch off her lottery tickets," Roxas responded dryly.

"Well, you're in for quite a treat then!" the man decided, and did what Roxas figured was supposed to be a wink—though, of course, the older man could have just been blinking. "Deal 'em out, babe, we'll make a real criminal out of the kid yet!"

"Righty-o!" Rikku agreed, giving the deck a shuffle before dealing the cards out.

"I don't have any money with me," Roxas said.

"No worries." Xigbar grinned like a shark. "We'll just take it out of your pay. Or, even better, we'll get it from Axel!"

"I'll keep a tally," Yuna offered softly, and Roxas sighed. It looked like he was playing, whether he liked it or not.

----

Roxas pushed the door open to Axel's room slowly and poked his head inside. The day was finally over, he had been horrible enough at Poker that everyone had decided _not_ to make him owe them all that money on the basis that he'd never have any again if they did, and all he wanted was to curl up next to something warm. But the tall redhead wasn't anywhere to be found.

Hoping that Axel would show up some time, he pulled open his laptop for the first time since he'd entered the Underground, and stretched out on the bed. When his instant messaging service popped up, he could feel his heart skip a beat as he came to a sudden realization: he could contact his brother! Of course, he wasn't going to talk to Sora as himself—that would almost guarantee that the idiot would go running off to find him, no matter what he said—but he could come up with a new persona and join things that he knew his brother was a part of. With this in mind, he began setting himself up on the internet: he quickly made a new email address from NewMail and matched it to a new Pidgin screen name (LuckyThirteen for both), and then made a new Undeadjournal. He detailed how he was starting a new life after leaving something that was just 'not good for him', and how he was trying to distance himself from all of his old friends (to explain his lack of a buddy list), and then spent a few enjoyable hours collecting icons and joining a few communities that his brother frequented.

As time went by, he found his attention waning. When he finally couldn't keep his eyes open any more, he curled up under his blankets and only had time to vaguely wonder where Axel was before he drifted to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Note to self: writing KHII fic while your best friend is _playing_ KHII doesn't work very well. Poor Beast and his rose fetish.

Pidgin was used as the instant messaging service for sake of recognition and because I didn't want to use something as obvious as AIM. Undeadjournal and newmail are kind of the same, only THEY don't actually exist. ...Also, Undeadjournal's full of zombies. BRAINS.

And, finally, though this is just a little pathetic: please please PLEASE review. I know everyone's busy, but I'd really appreciate it if more than four people would let me know that they're still enjoying this monster. Also, it really does help with my motivation because, remember: I may be sharing with you guys, but I write stories for myself and I already know what's going to happen. ;)


	10. Chapter 10: Nothing But Dark Blue

A/N: Life. So busy. That is my whole excuse for the lateness of this chapter! Honestly, I don't need to go in more detail than that. If I did, this note would be longer than, uh, probably this entire story. XD

Also, please forgive the title. I pretty much put my playlist on shuffle and picked lyrics off the first song that came on. Heh.

Warnings: Most of this chapter is unhappy. D:

Disclaimer: Well, if I'd owned them, the games would probably never have been finished, so....

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Ten: Nothing But Dark Blue_

Roxas was awake as soon as the door started opening. He leveled a glare at the robed figure that walked in and casually flipped on a light, acting as if it had every right to be where he was—which it did, of course, but that was entirely too rational of a thought for Roxas to even be considering right now. As far as he was concerned, Axel didn't have the right to be sneaking into anywhere without first giving Roxas an explanation for the day.

"Where've you been?" he asked coldly instead of thinking, and was gratified to see Axel jump slightly at the sound of his voice. The man turned to face him with a grin on his face, but it faltered at the steely light in Roxas' eyes.

"Where do you _think_ I've been?" the redhead responded snippily, unzipping and shrugging of his trenchcoat with a wince. Roxas could feel a bit of worry sneaking up on him at the unusually stiff movements his boyfriend was making, but he shoved it away irritably and slid off the bed. When he glared up at the other, he couldn't help cursing his own small stature.

"I've no idea," Roxas responded shortly. Axel gave him an annoyed look and brushed by him on his way to the bathroom. The blond followed him doggedly, scowl deepening as the other utterly ignored him in favor of downing two of the bottles in his medicine cabinet as if he hadn't had a thing to drink for days. "Are you going to tell me anything?" he asked.

"Not if you're going to keep being an icy bitch," Axel snarled without looking at him and Roxas bristled, literally bristled, in his anger and (if he was going to be honest with himself) worry—he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, like he was a spooked cat. Crossing his arms, he stood in silence and watched as Axel started undressing himself again, and had to bite his lip to keep from gasping when he saw the rapidly-healing bruises that decorated the redhead.

Eventually, when it became obvious that Axel wasn't going to say anything after all, Roxas growled lightly and spun on his heel to leave. He grabbed his laptop on the way out and slammed the door before stomping through the hallways on the way to his room. He'd only had a cursory glance at it before, when Demyx had reminded Axel to show him on their way to go clothes shopping, but he'd made sure to remember exactly where it was at least.

The place was beyond empty. There was a large bed with white sheets, and there were plain white walls, and a plain white door with a white doorknob that led to the white bathroom. He'd stored most of his new clothes in the closet in here, but other than that there was nothing of his. It was actually kind of depressing after staying first in Xigbar's rooms (with the ancient guns hanging on the wall and what looked like a painting of some strange place with a heart-shaped moon taking up the entire ceiling), and then in Axel's rooms (which was covered in an uncoordinated mix of posters, paintings, post-it notes, and a much-abused dartboard that was last occupied by a picture of the Superior), but he ignored that determinedly and fell onto the bed, prying his laptop open again. He was surprised to check his email and notice that he'd gotten a comment on his journal entry as well as a friend request, both of which were from Sora.

That, at least, made him smile. It was just like his brother to offer the first hand in friendship to the new kid. He'd seen it happen often enough throughout the years of going to school with him, but he'd never in his life expected to be on the receiving end of it. Of course, he'd also never expected to be in need of it. His life had gotten so _weird_.

Determined not to think about the oddity of his life, he responded to Sora's comment and friended him back before making a short entry in his Undeadjournal and poking half-heartedly through some communities. It didn't take him very long to feel restless, though, like he always did when he was feeling irritated or uneasy, and so he slid off his bed with a vague thought of heading to Xigbar's courtyard to practice his still-atrocious aim.

"Well, if it isn't Thirteen," a girl's voice called soon after he left his room, and he forced down a frown as he turned to face the tall, willowy blonde. "So you and Axel aren't attached at the hip after all!"

"...Larxene," he acknowledged dully after a moment's thought. He hadn't actually run into the girl since the library, which he'd learned to take as a blessing. Xigbar was quite open about his distrust of her, who he often referred to as 'Marluxia's shadow'. But Xemnas trusted the two of them, and had given them their own task to attend to which Roxas was given to understand involved the girl Namine, but he knew nothing else about it. It all made him very uneasy, and he steered clear of them as much as he could. "Can I help you with something?"

"Well I _could_ use a bit of entertainment," Larxene suggested with a leering grin that made him shiver, especially when he noticed the knife she was casually flipping between her fingers. "I don't think I've gotten to play with you yet."

"I think I'll pass," he said softly, trying to think of an excuse to get away. "I was just on my way to, uh--"

"Roxas, there you are!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Xigbar's voice, and peered around Larxene with some relief to see the older man striding casually towards them. Larxene, on the other hand, scowled down at him before she turned to Xigbar herself with an innocent-looking smile.

"Oh, hello, Xigbar!" she said cheerfully, and the knife disappeared with a small spark of lightning.

"Twelve," Xigbar greeted cooly, stepping past her and putting a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "I need Roxas for a while. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"Of course not," Larxene smiled, waving a hand dismissively in front of her face. "I was just getting to know our newest member a little. We haven't had any time to talk, what with Axel hogging up all of his time."

"I'm sure you'll find time to bother him again soon," Xigbar murmured, frowning, and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder. He gave a light shove, and Roxas took a couple steps back, feeling a little bewildered. There was something going on here that he was being kept in the dark about. Considering the little he knew, he figured it was something to do with his keyblades—but what it could be, he had no idea. What was this Kingdom Hearts, and what was so great about it? "Let's get going, kiddo. Lot's to do today."

"What was all that about?" Roxas asked with a feigned casualness as soon as he was sure Larxene was out of hearing range. He hoped that he could get Xigbar to let something slip, though he doubted it.

"What d'you mean?" Xigbar responded, raising his eyebrow. Roxas just raised both of his eyebrows back, and the older man gave a long sigh. "It was nothin'. Just don't think it's a good idea for you to be anywhere near her, y'know? She's a nasty piece of work."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed with a shrug. "Did you actually need me for anything?"

"Nah, you're cool. Though..."

"What?"

"Vexen says you're pretty quiet on your feet," Xigbar murmured slowly, his head tilted back as if he was talking to the ceiling. "And I've noticed you're fast. Might have something to do for you tonight."

"Yeah?" Roxas asked curiously, fighting back the excited grin that wanted to make its home on his face. "What do you need me to do?"

"Dunno if there's anything yet, but I'll talk to the Superior," Xigbar assured him, smirking. "I'll come find you later on tonight if we decide to bring you along. But right now, I think you oughta find Axel. He's all bad-moody for some reason."

"...Oh. Yeah." Roxas lifted a hand to his head and rubbed at his temple. He hated his temper sometimes, he really did—especially the way it left him so suddenly and made him feel like an idiot when it was gone. "Guess I should apologize or something."

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" Xigbar teased, nudging Roxas in the side. "Tell Uncle Xigbar about it!"

"I'd rather not," Roxas snapped, giving the older man an unnerved look. "It's none of your business."

"Hey, it's plenty of my business if I'm gonna suggest we send you out somewhere!" Xigbar protested, shaking his head. "Think you can leave your feelings behind long enough to get something completed? If you can't focus and mess this thing up, you won't be getting outta here for a good long while."

"I'll take care of it," Roxas said coldly, shoving his hands into his pockets and glaring down at his feet. "Don't worry about a thing."

---

A couple hours later found Roxas slowly walking up to the door of Axel's room. He'd been searching for the redhead everywhere, but had been unable to find him. This was going to be the last place he looked, and if Axel wasn't in his room he was just going to go to his own and give up. There was no point in spending his day searching for someone who likely didn't want to be found.

He really wished it wasn't his own fault that Axel was sulking.

So, sucking in a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. To his surprise, Axel actually was in there, though Demyx was with him and they were playing some sort of board game. As he watched, Demyx casually knocked over a red peg with his own blue one, and then the door creaked and the blond's head snapped up.

"Oh, hey, Roxas," Demyx said softly, and Roxas winced at the way Axel's shoulders tensed at the sound of his name. Roxas worried at his lip for a moment before sighing and giving Demyx a strained smile.

"I wanted to talk to Axel," he murmured. Demyx gave Axel a look and the other man's red spikes shook slightly as he slowly started getting to his feet. Roxas backed up a little and waited for his boyfriend to come out of the room.

"Hey," Axel said softly as soon as the door clunked quietly behind him. He leaned back and crossed his arms, his face settling into a look that was completely devoid of emotion. Roxas found that he couldn't look Axel in the eyes when his face was like that, and so he shifted his gaze onto his tattoos instead.

"I'm sorry about this morning," he started bluntly, crossing his arms nervously. "I didn't—I mean, you weren't--" He shook his head violiently, scowling, and chewed on his lip for another couple seconds before deciding to just get it out as simply as possible. "I didn't know where you were. I was worried. I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Worried?" Axel asked quietly, the blank look fading quickly into one that looked rather bemused. "I was on a mission; I've been doing this for years. I was fine."

"I would've liked to know you were going on a mission ahead of time," Roxas muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing at his temple again. "I've never had somebody I care about just up and disappear on me like that for an entire day, and then you came back hurt, so..." He shrugged helplessly, and looked back up at Axel to give him an apologetic smile. To his surprise, Axel smiled back and held out a hand.

"It's cool," the taller man said softly. "I'll let you know next time, and you'll let me know when you go out, right? But just remember that we can't give each other any details whatsoever. You don't even want to know what Xemnas is like when he throws a hissy fit."

Roxas laughed softly and put a hand in Axel's, allowing himself to be pulled in for a long kiss. Axel seemed determined to keep a hold of him afterwords, so Roxas let himself be led back into his boyfriend's room and even laid on the floor next to Axel and settled himself under the other's arm.

"So, disaster averted?" Demyx asked cheerfully, his eyes glittering as he watched them. "Should I leave so the two of you can get your make-up sex on?"

Axel threw one of the red pieces at Demyx, and it bounced off the blond's cheek to land back on the board and spin. Demyx's lewd grin didn't even twitch. "Let's finish the game, jackass. We've got all night for the sex. No interruptions tonight!"

Almost as if on que, there was a loud knocking on the door.

"Hey, Axel, have you seen Roxas?" Xigbar's voice filtered through, and Roxas had to give Demyx a death-glare as the taller blond let out a loud laugh before clapping his hands over his own mouth. "Gotta job for him!"

* * *

A/N: Oooh, a mission for Roxas! How exciting! What exactly does Xigbar have in mind for our young protagonist? I would tell you, but it would ruin the story! Also, I haven't decided yet.

Now let's see if I can just manage to write faster next time. (Yeah right.)


	11. Chapter 11: Everything I Never Liked

A/N: LOOK, GUYS, IT HASN'T BEEN SIX MONTHS. Oh god this is so awesome. I mean, it's still been almost _three_ months, but, uh, you forgive me, right? ...'Course you do. So anyway, in the true spirit of RPGs, I've given the guys a break from everything else to complete a sidequest! Yes, I really am that much of a dork.

Warnings:Well, there's no Axel in this chapter. XD But, uh, for seriously? Violence, I suppose. Aaand some swearing?

Disclaimer: I don't own anyyyything! There are characters and concepts in here that aren't from Kingdom Hearts—if you're curious as to their origins (and the form a couple of them originally take), I've cheerfully stolen straight from _Final Fantasy VI_ and twisted so minutely that it's barely noticeable.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Eleven: Everything I Never Liked_

"We've gotta be missing something," Xigbar murmured somewhere off to the right, and Roxas could only sigh in agreement. The house had looked huge from the outside, and it _was_ huge, but they were both sure there was a lot they hadn't seen yet. Everything they'd checked out was too neat and orderly—the kitchen didn't even look like it was ever used. That could, of course, be excused by the fact that the only people living here were an old man and his ten year old adopted granddaughter...but nothing excused the neatly made beds that had obviously not been slept in recently.

"I can't think of anything we've overlooked," Roxas said, eyeing the painting in front of him dubiously. "We've done everything possible to find a secret passage of some sort. And what's with these paintings anyway?"

"Strago's known to be a bit eccentric," Xigbar answered, sounding utterly disinterested, and Roxas snorted softly. He was the last person that ought to be calling someone eccentric. "Lucky for him he knows a pictomancer who's willing to paint something so boring."

"...A pictomancer?" Roxas mused to himself. He'd read about pictomancers, of course: they were very rare, and capable of making moving portraits. But if they were really good...

Feeling rather stupid, he reached his hand up to the painting and tried to put it in the top of the open barrel. Despite his hopes, he couldn't help but jump when he actually managed to reach into the painting. His arm was shaking by the time he pulled out the small sack that had been hidden inside.

"You might want to take a look at this, Two!" he called over to Xigbar, waving the bag so that the contents jingled softly. When he was sure the other's attention was on him, he untied the bag and peered inside curiously.

"What've ya got?" Xigbar asked. For an answer, Roxas tipped over the bag so that several coins rolled out onto his palm. Xigbar's eyebrow shot up. "You know you weren't supposed to bring anything with you, right?"

"I didn't!" Roxas replied shortly, dumping the munny back in the bag before pointing at the painting. "I found it in there. That pictomancer you said he knows—they must have painted the barrel as somewhere for him to hide things."

"...Clever," was all the older man said in response before turning and striding off in the opposite direction. Roxas hastily shoved the munny back into the picture before rushing after him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"There was a picture of a door in the little girl's bedroom," the other explained. "It could've been a secret passage—have you seen any others?"

"There was one in the kitchen," the blond responded excitedly, thinking quickly. "And patio doors in the living room. Stairs in the foyer, if that helps any. I was wondering why that picture was practically on the floor!"

"Good eye. I missed the two doors, but you're right about those stairs. Dunno why I didn't think of it myself. We'll check the doors in the bedroom and kitchen, then head up those stairs. What'd you do with the munny?"

"...I, uh, put it back," Roxas responded uncertainly, and scowled when Xigbar started snickering. "What? It's not mine!"

"You've still got too much of the Above in you, kiddo," Xigbar responded, shaking his head. "Next time you find something that's been hidden, ya gotta keep it! The Organization doesn't usually partake in petty thievery, but when people can't be bothered to hide it properly they deserve to lose it."

"So that means if you don't lock your door when you're not in there, I get to steal everything that's not nailed down, right?"

Xigbar snickered again, but then gestured for him to be silent. Roxas obediently shut his mouth, and watched with curiosity as the space around the man's hand seemed to contort, the colors of everything around it swirling together into a single black point before suddenly disappearing. Xigbar was now holding a small, nondescript handgun that he held ready as he slowly opened the door. He took a few steps inside, boots making soft clunking noises on the wooden floor, and jumped when several bright lights came on.

"Holy shit," Xigbar breathed so softly Roxas almost didn't hear him. "I've never seen so many toys in my life."

Curious, Roxas poked his head inside and his jaw almost dropped at the sight before him. There was nothing particularly valuable in the room, but it was just as Xigbar said—there were so many toys in there that he had to wonder just how much munny this Strago guy had. Clearly, the little girl living with him never wanted for anything.

"There's no more paintings," Roxas observed softly, and Xigbar nodded. "To the kitchen, then?"

The two of them backed out of the room together, neither of them speaking this time. Roxas didn't know what was on Xigbar's mind, but his attention was suddenly caught on the paintings hanging in the hallway. Most of them were of landscapes, and he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he tried to put his hand in one. Would he be able to feel the grass, the wind blowing softly against his hand, maybe scare some miniature birds out of the trees?

"Focus, Thirteen," Xigbar muttered suddenly, and Roxas jumped again. He nodded seriously and tore his gaze away from the walls, instead choosing to stare at Xigbar's back.

Thankfully, the distance to the kitchen wasn't very long, and he soon found himself watching again as Xigbar pulled open a painting. The room behind it wasn't very large, but the contents were curious. There were several suits hanging front-forward on the wall, with various accessories on shelves beside them. The first thing that caught Roxas' interest was the shelf beside the middle suit—on it was the bust of a beautiful woman, and around her neck was a small pendant that glowed with a flickering light. Roxas couldn't help but take it off for a closer look, and was startled to discover that there was actually a tiny flame in the center of the clear glass. His eyes slid over to the suit, which was made of an unusual assortment of red-orange feathers.

"Proof," Xigbar said smugly, plucking a single feather from it, "that the Phoenix is, at least, real."

"We're looking for the Phoenix?" Roxas asked dubiously, hesitantly tucking the necklace in one of his pockets. Xigbar gave him an amused look that he could barely see, and then nodded slowly.

"Sort of. Or at least what's left of it. I'll tell you about it if I find it."

Roxas made an annoyed sound, wishing Xigbar would just tell him straight out, and silently stepped out of the room. The other followed just as quietly after him, and shut the door before striding out of the kitchen. Roxas eyed the bowl of apples in the dining room as they passed, wishing he'd had a chance to eat something before they'd headed out, but didn't pick one up. The last thing he needed was to leave the core of an apple somewhere for the police to find when they were gone.

"I'm really tempted to tell you to go first," Xigbar announced as he came to a stop in front of the picture of the stairs. "There's just something really unnerving about climbing a set of painted stairs."

"You teleport everywhere," Roxas responded pointedly, crossing his arms. "How is that not unnerving?"

"I understand my _own_ magic," Xigbar grumbled, and placed an uncertain foot on the first step. When he didn't just end up kicking the canvas, he slowly leaned forward to put all his weight on the one foot, and then hurriedly brought his other foot onto the next step. Roxas had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the rather amusing picture Xigbar made—to think, number two in the most feared gang of the Underground was afraid to walk up a flight of stairs.

"Are you going to go any farther, or am I going to have to stare at your ass all night?" Roxas asked shortly. Xigbar gave him the finger without turning around, but obligingly resumed his slow trek up the stairs. Roxas followed after him silently, one gloved hand sliding up the railing as he moved. When they reached the landing, he eyed the decorative door that seemed to be surrounded by another picture frame uncertainly.

"A picture inside a picture." Xigbar sounded fascinated even as he reached out for the doorknob. The door swung silently away from them as it opened, and the older man didn't hesitate before moving forward. The first room they came across was another kitchen, this one with a couple dirty bowls in the sink. There was a real swinging door to their right, and they pushed their way through it to find themselves in a small dining room. There were more painted doors here—these ones lead out to what Roxas thought must have been a balcony, though they refrained from going through them. Strangely enough, when they went back into the hallway, Xigbar turned and made his way to the door at the end of the hall, utterly ignoring the other rooms.

"Aren't you—" Roxas tried softly, but was gestured into silence again. Roxas shoved his hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat grumpily as they pushed their way through into the next room. They'd hardly had a chance to look at the room when a brisk wind started up, and Roxas just barely managed to dodge a small whirlwind before watching with stunned eyes as it faded right before it would have taken the door off its hinges.

"That's your warning to get out of my house!" an old voice snarled, and Roxas turned back to eye the old man at the far end of the room. His hair, kept in a rather unfortunate mohawk, was white, and he had an equally unfortunate mustache that seemed as if it might have a mind of its own. The fluffy red robe he was wearing looked as if it had been hastily thrown on and tied, and he had a rather nondescript rod with a yellow ball at the top of it clutched in his hand.

"You haven't changed, Strago," Xigbar greeted the man lazily, waving one hand in the air by his head. Roxas stared at him, eyebrows raised, and resisted the urge to butt in and ask how the two knew each other. "How that soft heart of yours ever got to lead anyone in a war is still kind of mind-boggling!"

"Braig!" the man named Strago gasped, sounding utterly shocked. "How are you alive? I thought the Heartless got you!"

"Oh, the Heartless got me, all right," Xigbar chuckled, pushing back his hood. Strago took a step back and gawked at him. "But not how you thought. By the way, Xehanort sends his regards!"

"Xehanort!" Strago spluttered, jumping forward again. "That...that little troublemaker! I see what's going on now. I've read those reports he wrote! Well, I don't have any of the Keys!"

"Yes, we're well aware of that, my friend," Xigbar responded, and waved a hand at Roxas. "We've got some of them already as it is. But we're trying to avoid going that far if we can. We're hunting down rumors for now."

"So you're after the magicite instead!" Strago raised the rod threateningly, a scowl on his face. "Well, I'm not--"

But he was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot right before Xigbar disappeared from beside Roxas. The man jerked backwards, rod flying out of his hand, and then Xigbar appeared before him, knocking him off his feet entirely and putting one foot on the other's chest to hold him down. A gun was pointed directly at his forehead.

"See any interesting paintings, Thirteen?" Xigbar called to Roxas, and Roxas' jaw snapped shut. He'd been watching the proceedings with no small amount of curiosity, and, at the end, a bit of astonishment at Xigbar's heartlessness. But, having had attention turned to him, he shook his head to clear his mind, and looked around the room.

"There's a safe," he said softly, giving Xigbar and Strago a wide berth as he walked over to it. "It's got an old-fashioned dial, but it's letters instead."

"So, it needs a password," Xigbar nodded, and leaned over to poke Strago in the head. "About what I was expecting. Gonna give it up?"

"That's a stupid question, and you know it!"

"Heh. No matter. Thirteen, try using H-i-d-o-n. Go clockwise, then counter-clockwise, and so on."

"I _was_ going to a public school before Eight burned down my house, you know," Roxas responded dryly, spinning the dial as fast as he could. The password Xigbar had suggested worked (he made a mental note to look up exactly what Hidon was later), and the door of the safe opened silently. Inside was a strange, coffin-shaped stone that was glowing softly from some unknown source. As he turned it around in his hand, inspecting it curiously, he realized that there was a dark red cross etched into one side of it.

"It's a rock," he informed Xigbar blandly, still spinning it around—there was a strange power radiating from it and it was ice cold. "Kind of looks like a green coffin, and it's...glowing."

"That's what we're looking for!" Xigbar said cheerfully, and Roxas promptly shoved it into one of his pockets, zipping it closed so he wouldn't risk losing it. "Now let's ge--"

"Gramps, I'm here to help you out!" a childish voice interrupted, and Roxas spun around to see a young girl framed in the doorway. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, bangs falling into her eyes, and she was wearing a little red nightdress and fuzzy slippers. Curiously enough, she was holding a large piece of paper, and there was a still-dripping paintbrush settled behind one ear.

"No, Relm, it's dangerous!" Strago yelled from his prone position on the floor. "Just get out of here!"

"Oh, don't be such a fussy old man!" the girl pouted, stomping one foot on the ground. Then she turned her attention to the paper, pulling the brush out and spreading some paint across it. "I'm not helpless!" And she threw the paper forward, striking an interesting pose—a light surrounded her for a brief moment, shooting out from her chest to the paper, and the paper grew and morphed before their eyes.

"You're the damn pictomancer!" Xigbar snarled, raising his gun from Strago's head and pointing it at Relm. Strago leapt up from the floor as soon as the gun was no longer pointing at him, knocking Xigbar off balance, and whacked him in the head twice in quick succession with his rod. The one-eyed man fell to the side, holding his head as if dizzy, and Strago rushed over to his granddaughter.

"Don't you ever do that again!" the old man yelped, tugging at the girl's arm and running down the hallway.

Roxas took a few steps after them, figuring that Xigbar wouldn't want them to get away (what was wrong with the guy, anyway?), but his path was blocked by a black figure. It was the same height as Roxas and had blue dots glowing where eyes would be, but it seemed strangely two dimensional, somehow, and he could see a certain sketchiness around the edges of it. The way it moved was strange, too, some movements too jerky and some too smooth—but when Roxas pulled out his keyblades, perfect replicas of them appeared in the thing's hands.

"This fucking sucks," he growled to himself, jumping forward and swinging his blades at his copy, but it blocked him with one of those too-smooth movements before retaliating with a move that Roxas knew as well as if...well, as if he was fighting himself. Which he was, in a way, and that meant this was going to be a difficult fight.

He wasn't wrong. For long minutes that seemed like hours, the two of them traded blows expertly, neither one getting the better of the other. Roxas couldn't help but wonder what the hell was wrong with Xigbar, why the older man wasn't helping, and when he spun away from his portrait in a way that would let him see the man, he was more than a little startled to discover that the other was gone. He must've teleported after Strago and Relm, he figured, and that pissed him off. Couldn't the man have at least mentioned that he was leaving? Channeling this anger, he once again leapt at his copy, feeling himself grin as the fury leant him an agility the other couldn't replicate. Clearly, he could make up for their equal abilities with emotions that the other couldn't feel.

It didn't take long after that, with him pounding away at the copycat keyblades, for the battle to end. The thing toppled over, leaking paint across the floor, and Roxas took off without bothering to check whether it was done for good. He thundered down the steps with an amount of noise he could never remember making before and burst through the still-open front door. He didn't break stride as he realized the front gates were open, though he was starting to get a stitch in his side, and he was halfway across the lawn when something hit his back and pain spread throughout his body with a strange crackling sound, almost as if he'd been electrocuted. He fell to the ground, gasping for air, and seconds later a knife sailed right past his face, grazing his cheek.

"What the _hell_?" he asked himself between breathes, before stumbling back to his feet and spinning around just in time to dodge another knife. For a long moment, he couldn't figure out where the knives had come from, but then a man dressed head to toe in black practically appeared from the shadows, swinging a katana at him. He yelped and jumped backwards, calling Oblivion back to him just in time to block the backswing, and then the man seemed to disappear again. Seconds later, he heard barking, and this time he didn't have to question where it was coming from—a large dog was running full-speed across the lawn. Swearing to himself, he started running for the gate again, this time making sure not to keep his line straight—a good idea, he discovered, when the grass right beside him burst into flame for no apparent reason.

The very clear thought that he was going to die popped into his head, repeating itself like a mantra, and he could hear the dog getting closer even as he ran through the gates and started down the empty road. He wondered, idly, if he'd been left for dead in the mansion.

A car suddenly screeched out from a side-street as he was starting to pass it, and he stopped short with a startled gasp, and then the car stopped as suddenly as it had started, door flinging open, and a pair of arms reached out to yank him inside. He found himself with his face pressed against somebody's leg, precariously close to their crotch, and then there was the sound of gunshot as the car squealed away again.

"Pull in your damn feet!" Xigbar snapped and he did so, curling his legs up until his feet were just under his butt, and Xigbar leaned over him to slam the door shut. He could still hear the barking of the dog, just barely, but he knew he was finally safe and he just lay where he was, panting.

"If you don't move soon, I'm gonna tell Axel you tried to give me a blowjob," Xigbar said, voice completely serious, and Roxas choked on a laugh as he began pushing himself upright.

"Did you get it?" Marluxia's voice came from the front, and Roxas looked forward to catch eyes with him in the rear-view mirror before nodding. He moved to lean against the door before pulling the rock out, handing it over to Xigbar.

"...It's not the Phoenix," Xigbar said gruffly, inspecting the rock with open curiosity. "Probably some sort of ice elemental, I'd bet my rifle on it."

"What is it, exactly?" Roxas asked curiously, rubbing at the stitch in his side. His voice was a little hoarse, throat dry from all the damn running, and Xigbar reached forward into the front seat to snag a bottle of water for him before settling back and answering.

"Dead summon," he said. Roxas raised his eyebrows, peering at Xigbar around the bottle of water that he was gulping down, and the older man sighed. He was still staring at the stone. "Well, that's not entirely true. Summons don't die, not like humans do. But their magic gets sucked out of 'em until they might as well be dead, and these rocks—magicite, as they're called—are pretty much the crystalized essences of their souls. As long as you're holding one, you can use magic based on the Summon's element. It drains you of your own magic, of course, but not much more than your usual magic would. And they give you one other special ability. You can summon their true form, just once, to use its full potential."

"And you're looking for the Phoenix magicite..." Roxas prompted him, putting the lid back on the bottle and leaning back again. He gave Xigbar a pointed look, practically demanding an answer.

"To bring something back." Xigbar's statement had a ring of finality in it, and Roxas knew there was no point in even trying to get any more information. With a soft sigh, he turned his face away to watch the scenery as they drove. None of them spoke again.

* * *

A/N: Sooo yeah. Strago, Relm, the unnamed guy, and the unnamed dog (Shadow and Intercepter, respectively) are characters stolen, yes, straight from FFVI. The idea of magicite and pictomancy are likewise from that game, though I must admit that pictomancy isn't nearly as cool in the game as it is here. Anyway, if you liked this chapter (and its absurd length), please be sure to leave a review! Every one I read makes me smile.


	12. Chapter 12: Boom De Yada

A/N: LOOK. LOOK. TWO MONTHS. I'M GETTING BETTER. Okay, but seriously. I've got some good news! I've got quite a bit of this story written (read: up to chapter twenty-four, lolz), so I won't be going three months without posting again. XD The bad news, however, is that I wrote about forty-two thousands words during one month (hooray NaNoWriMo) so, for the first time pretty much ever, I have to do some serious editing for this. And it can be hard to find time to talk with my beta SO...there's no telling when I'll update still. I'll try not to go any more than a month between posts, though!

Also: my apologies for the title of this chapter, but, uh, I'm feeling pretty lazy tonight. Heh.

Warnings: Nothing spectacular: a bit of swearing, some more Reno (he will always deserve his own warning!), and some young children. (Shut up, I hate kids.)

Disclaimer: All familiar characters herein belong to their respective owners blah blah blah this shit is so boring. (Also: stole from _Final Fantasy VI_ again, and then also from _Final Fantasy IX_; hope you don't mind!)

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twelve: Boom De Yada_

"Magicite?" Axel asked blankly, staring at Roxas strangely. "I've heard of it, but only in myths from when Summoners were still around. They said that a Summon could die in battle, very rarely, and once they did they became magical rocks."

"Yeah, that's what Xigbar told me," Roxas agreed quietly, spinning his rings around his fingers. "We found one at the place we went to, the house of some old guy named Strago. Some sort of ice summon, Xigbar thinks, but he didn't seem to know which one. They're looking for one in particular."

"The Phoenix?" Axel gave him a smile as Roxas' eyebrows rose curiously. "A lot of people go out looking for it. Almost everyone has someone they want to bring back from the dead."

"Who—"

"Not who. What." Axel shook his head and sighed, turning away from Roxas to stare at the wall. "Almost everyone in the Organization lost something important—what you'd call the soul Above. But it's really their heart. The Heartless, the dark creatures in Hollow Bastion, they steal hearts. We don't know why. But if you're killed by a Heartless, you sort of get split into two creatures—the Heartless, which is your heart, and the Nobody, which is your soul. Numbers one through six, though, they weren't killed by Heartless. They turned themselves into Nobodies, and their hearts are already gone."

"So they're going to use the Phoenix to bring their hearts back?" Roxas asked dully, shaking his head. "How does that even work?"

"Well, they'll find out when they get the magicite, I suppose," Axel shrugged, stretching and giving Roxas a shadow of his usual grin.

"Right," Roxas sighed, and got up from his bed. "No point in worrying ourselves about it. Want to go find Demyx and...I don't know, play some random board game or something? I think I deserve it after almost dying like five times last night."

"One day I'll get that whole story out of you. 'I fucking hate ninjas' doesn't tell me anything."

Roxas just snickered and went over to his closet to find something to wear. Axel followed after him and watched as he poked through his clothes for a few minutes, before reaching in and grabbing a shirt seemingly at random. Roxas turned to look at him, not amused, but Axel just grinned.

"You look good in red," he said defensively, throwing the shirt over his shoulder and tugging at the t-shirt Roxas wore as pajamas. "C'mon, humor me today? I was all worried about you last night, on your first ever mission, and then you didn't come back to my room. And you woke up bitching about ninjas!"

"Ninjas with dobermans," Roxas corrected, before reaching up and grabbing the shirt off Axel's shoulder. "Find me some pants, will you?"

Axel grinned at him and turned back to the closet, whistling cheerfully. Roxas just rolled his eyes and pulled his shirt off, throwing the new one over his head and then crossing his arms. A few moments later, a pair of pants came flying over Axel's back, and Roxas caught them and pulled them up over his boxers. Socks and shoes were next, but as he bent over to get his shoes, a belt wrapped itself around his waist and yanked him back into Axel.

"Your pants are slipping down," Axel murmured to him, threading the belt through Roxas' beltloops for him.

"Aren't you supposed to help me get _un_dressed?" Roxas asked sweetly, pulling the belt out of Axel's hands and cinching it.

"Well, we can't have the rest of the Organization getting to see you naked," Axel replied loftily, stepping back and giving Roxas a good look-over. "You look good enough dressed as it is, I don't even want to think about who'd try to molest you if you weren't!"

"I'm glad you're looking out for my virginity, if only so you can be the first to completely steal it." Roxas shook his head and finally managed to pull on his shoes before walking out of the room. Axel followed him, now humming to himself, and locked the door behind him. Together, they wandered the hallways almost aimlessly, and so it was a few minutes before they made it to Demyx' room.

"Oh, hey, Zexion!" Axel said cheerfully as they walked up and saw the man quietly closing Demyx' door. "Have a good night?"

"You could say that," Zexion replied softly. "If you're looking for Demyx, he's out on a mission for another magicite. I don't know when he'll be back."

"...Now what?" Roxas asked softly, tilting his head back to look at Axel.

"Well, now we have to go gather information, obviously."

---

"Axel!" Reno's voice called from across the store, and said redhead came running over, practically leaping into Axel's arms. Roxas took a few steps away from the pair, half-convinced that his boyfriend was going to fall right over, but Axel did a surprisingly good job of holding himself up.

"What the fuck?" a strange voice asked, and the person Reno must've been helping before walked over to them. Roxas turned to them, prepared to mirror the look he knew must have been on the other's face, but his eyes were drawn first to the tail swinging behind the new person. "You couldn't wait two minutes to make out with your clone here?"

"Ah, calm down, Zidane," Reno replied flippantly, finally disentangling himself from Axel. "This is my little brother, alright? I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Yeah, it's been a whole week," Axel agreed, shaking his head. "Can't you let family be family?"

"I came here to buy some fireworks—for once," the boy named Zidane replied, swinging his tail side to side. Roxas tore his gaze from it, realizing he was being impolite, and shrugged when he saw the other glaring at him. "And I promised Dagger I'd be back with them soon!"

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot you were tied down now," Reno laughed.

"Yeah, like you're one to say anything," Zidane scoffed. "It's not exactly a secret what you and Rude get up to, you know. Not that you even bother trying to keep quiet about it. Been arrested again lately?"

"That was only one time!" Reno protested, affecting the most innocent expression Roxas had ever seen on a grown man's face. "I couldn't help myself!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now can I get my fireworks or what?"

"Fine, tear me away from the only family I have left!" Reno cried dramatically, stomping back over to his most expensive display and opening it up. "The only person I have left outside of Rude and I can't even give him a hug. What is this world coming to? That's going to be about five thousand munny by the way."

"These better work as well as you said," Zidane groaned, untying a bag from around his waist and throwing it on a nearby counter. Reno just smirked as he handed everything over and peered into the bag. He didn't even look like he was bothering to count the money, though, and nodded in satisfaction after a moment.

"Always good dealing with you, Zidane," he said with a grin, and pulled out a glowing green rock. Axel and Roxas shared a look.

"So, you've got a magicite hunter?" Axel asked casually once Zidane had left the building.

"Nah," Reno replied flippantly, tucking the magicite into a pocket and grinning. "Zidane's just an honest thief. Stole it from the queen of Alexandria when he was sent to kidnap the princess. It's supposed to be one of the dark ones, but I don't know which for sure yet."

"Roxas was sent on a mission to steal some magicite last night," Axel informed Reno quietly, looking around to make sure nobody had come in without them noticing. "You know which one we're really looking for. Heard anything about it?"

"Heard Strago from the Bastion almost got it," Reno replied just as softly, giving Roxas a piercing look. "Heard a lot of things about Strago just this morning, actually. Seems the Organization hit him. You wouldn't know anything about _that_, would you?"

"Info for info, then?" Axel asked, smiling. "Roxas was there. He hasn't told me much yet, except that he got into quite a bit of trouble. You actually going to share, Rox?"

"There's really not much to say," Roxas shrugged modestly. "We broke into the first part of the house fine, but it took us a while to figure out how to get into the part they actually live in. When we did, we went right to Strago, I opened his safe, and we were about to leave when we got interrupted by his granddaughter. Turns out she's the pictomancer he knows, so I ended up having to fight a painting of myself from her. Then on the way out I got attacked by a fucking ninja and his pet Doberman."

Reno whistled, looking impressed, and Roxas just stared at him. "Pictomancy is hard to beat," he explained himself softly. "And Shadow—that's the ninja that attacked you—he's almost impossible to get away from. So, good news, the Underground's about to become very afraid of you, kid!"

"You're going to spread rumors?" Axel asked curiously. "You haven't done that for a while. I thought you—"

"I like Roxas," Reno interrupted simply, looking very serious. "I'm not going to explain myself. You know how I feel about this whole situation. But, Axel, there's something else going on now besides just the Organization. Things are moving. I'm pretty sure it's because of him."

"What'd I do?" Roxas asked grumpily, crossing his arms and glaring at the two redheads. "And why doesn't anybody ever explain anything fully? I just get the very basics, enough to make me curious, and then I'm left to my own devices to wander around in the dark!"

"It's nothing against you, Roxas," Axel assured him earnestly. "Even I don't know everything. And I think—there's something going on with Xemnas. He's keeping everything close. Saix knows anything that's on his mind, and he trusts Marluxia for whatever reason, and everyone through Zexion was there at the beginning. But the rest of us?" He ended with a shrug, and Roxas sighed.

"Fine. But I'll figure everything out eventually. Whatever Kingdom Hearts is, whoever that guy that was yelling at me before is...I can't be kept in the dark forever."

"When you find out, be sure you let me know, alright?" Axel gave him another of his dimmer smiles and Roxas just nodded with a sigh. "Anyway, back to business. Thanks for offering to spread information, Reno. You going with just the truth?"

"A bit of truth, a bit of embellishment, a bit of shit that never happened," Reno assured him. "You remember how it works. By the end of the month, everyone in the Underground will be convinced that the mysterious Thirteenth is untouchable. As for what I know about the Phoenix—well, there's not much. You've heard of Locke, right?"

"The supposedly legendary treasure hunter?" Axel snickered. "Never misses a treasure chest and can practically smell money? Yeah, I've heard of him."

"Good. He's looking for the Phoenix as well. I don't know where he is, but I know someone who might. You'll need to meet Terra. She runs that orphanage out by the lake. I've heard that she used to go on adventures with Locke years ago, and they've remained friends since. If anyone will know where he is, she will."

"Great, Reno, thanks!" Axel said cheerfully, and his smile was back in full-force. "Maybe we'll find something to do, rather than sit on our asses waiting for Xemnas to tell us to do something. Although he doesn't usually like us taking too much initiative...."

"What's wrong with taking initiative?" Roxas asked.

"I have no idea," Axel admitted, throwing an arm over Roxas' shoulders and steering him out the door with a wave to Reno when the older redhead yelled after them ("Don't forget to use protection!"). "But I figure if we just go talk to Terra, there's no harm done, right? Then we can take this info to Xemnas and see if he gives us the mission, or if he decides to be a complete bitch and give it to someone else."

"Sounds like a good plan."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Roxas found himself watching the people around them, particularly as they moved from the Underground to the Above. While in the Underground, people would mostly just ignore everyone around them, and Roxas had gotten accustomed to that. He'd forgotten, in the week he'd been away, just how nosy Abovers were about how you looked and what you did with your life. A few people seemed to find the two of them disgusting, no doubt assuming that they were together without any real proof. Roxas ignored them with the ease of practice, while Axel gave them rude gestures. But, thankfully, the walk wasn't as long as Roxas had feared, and they were soon back in the underground and staring at a large fenced-in building with a lot of children playing cheerfully in the huge yard.

"Have I ever mentioned that I really don't like kids?" Roxas asked softly as a few of them stopped what they were doing to watch them curiously. "They're kind of creepy."

"I don't think I've ever heard kids in general described as creepy before," Axel chuckled, opening the door of the orphange slowly. The two of them stepped inside and looked around curiously—the floor was strewn with toys, and a young green-haired woman was talking gently to a tiny girl who was holding onto her doll and crying.

"It'll be okay," the woman promised in a very soft voice, brushing the girl's hair back from her eyes. "I know you're scared to be going somewhere new, but I know you'll be taken care of. I'll even visit you a few times to make sure everything's going well, and if you don't like it you just let me know, alright?"

"But I don't wanna go!" the little girl wailed, wiping at her eyes and sniffing. "I like you and I promised Sabin a painting that he's not gonna get now because he won't be back in time and they're not gonna be as cool as you are!"

"I promise you'll have a good time," the woman assured her in the same soft voice. "They have another little girl, a few years older than you, who went through the same thing a while ago and she's just fine now. And I promise you'll be able to give Sabin your present, okay? As soon as he gets home, we'll run off to visit you and he'll give you one of his great bear hugs! Now, why don't you go play with the others until dinner? I'll read you a special story tonight."

"O-okay," the girl sniffled, and gave the woman a short hug before running off down the hallway. The woman gave a sigh before she stood herself, turning to Axel and Roxas with a tired smile.

"It gets harder every time," she offered to them in a stronger voice. "What can I do for you?"

"We came here to talk to the owner of the orphanage," Axel told her, giving her a disarming grin. "Know where we can find her?"

"That'll be me, actually," the woman told them, smiling. "I know I don't look it, but I've been running it for a few years now."

"Great! We won't be keeping you long, but we wanted to know if you have any information for us. Have you heard of magicite?"

"...We should take this into another room," Terra said softly, not answering, and spun on her heel into what looked like her office. Once Axel and Roxas had stepped in, she shut the door behind them and moved over to sit down behind her desk while motioning for the two of them to sit down. "The children don't need to hear about any of this. I know a lot about magicite, probably more than you do, but I only know where one of them is and I won't give it to you."

"We're looking for a specific one anyway," Axel assured her. "The Phoenix."

"You'll have trouble getting it," Terra laughed. "Locke Cole is after the same thing, and if I know him, he's going to get it first."

"So you know Locke, then?" Roxas asked quietly, and Terra just nodded her head. "Where can we find him?"

"Only one person can ever find Locke any more. Go to Figaro. If you can find a woman named Celes, you'll have no problem getting to Locke. But I have to warn you: she used to be a general, so you don't want to get on her bad side."

"Don't worry, we'll be perfect gentlemen," Axel said, and Roxas snorted as the two of them got back up from their seats. "Thanks for your information." Then he pulled out a small bag from an inside pocket of his coat and dropped it on the table. Roxas raised his eyebrows at the soft clinking sound of munny. "And, uh, here's a small donation to the orphanage. It's good to see one run by someone who's both competent and kind."

"I don't know what you need the Phoenix for," Terra murmured, looking in the bag and smiling sadly at the contents, "but if Locke doesn't get it, I hope you do."

* * *

A/N: So I'm pretty sure I've read this chapter like a dozen times by now, and every time I read the ending all I can think is "D'awww, Axel! 3" Just try to convince me you weren't thinking the same thing. I won't believe you!


	13. Cha13: The Dinosaur Wants to Eat Bananas

A/N: So it hasn't even been two weeks yet and I'm already updating. Is anybody else as excited as I am!? Okay, but seriously, it's just so awesome that I'm already able to get this up—though I wouldn't have been if I hadn't been given two days off from work. Sometimes working weekends does come in handy! (P.S. Please excuse the title...again. Nothing happens in this damn chapter so I figured, you know, why not?)

Warnings: Actually...this chapter is kind of boring. Blargh.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you really think I'd be writing this for free? (P.S. Can you possibly tell what my favorite _Final Fantasy_ game is?)

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirteen: The Dinosaur Wants to Eat Bananas_

Roxas threw his duffle bag into the back seat before climbing into the passenger side of the car. He was a little bit surprised that the car wasn't Axel's own—there was apparently an entire garage full of cars that belonged to the entire Organization. The car Axel was driving that day wasn't a flashy red thing, as Roxas would have been expecting (and, in fact, had been eyeing somewhat hopefully), but a rather non-descript forest green sedan.

"This isn't exactly what I'd be expecting you to drive," Roxas commented off-handedly as Axel started up the car.

"Yeah, a lot of people are surprised by my preference," Axel chuckled, putting the car into reverse and carefully backing out of the garage. "But this is a really nice car, dependable and all that, and faster than it looks. And manuals are more fun to drive anyway."

"I'm glad you look for the important things," Roxas said dryly, and Axel laughed again. "So how far away is this Figaro?"

"About two hours or so," Axel replied. "It's a tiny kingdom on the far side of the Underground. Hardly anybody goes there any more. It used to be a hot spot of rebels a few years ago when some freak named Kefka was trying to take over the Underground, but that's thankfully over now. The king, Edgar, is really fond of technology, so now it's just where half the big advances come from."

"My laptop was made in Figaro," Roxas admitted softly. "I always thought it was just a factory or something, not a society out of the dark ages."

"The king's pretty cool for a dictator, actually. I've never met him, but I know he was part of the group that took down Kefka. I think it's safe to say that everyone living in the Underground now owes him and his friends quite a bit, and we'd probably show our appreciation a lot better if we knew who any of the others were."

They lapsed into silence after that, Roxas just staring dully at the scenery as it passed. The amount of buildings and people were getting less and less the longer they drove, and soon there was nothing but open farmland and the occasional farmhouse. Roxas was fascinated by the things he saw, if he was honest with himself. He'd never seen actual cows or chickens before—at least, not while they were alive. Watching the creatures graze and run around was strangely interesting, and part of him wanted to tell Axel to pull over so he could try to pet one.

"Having an urge to go cow-tipping, Roxas?" Axel asked quietly, and Roxas jumped at the sound of his voice. He turned back to Axel, staring at him questioningly, and Axel laughed. "Cow-tipping. Cows sleep standing up, so the idea is to go out in he middle of the night and knock them over while they're asleep."

"That's...really stupid," Roxas said, shaking his head. "How many times have you done it?"

"Me?" Axel affected an innocent look. "I would _never_! Well, actually, that's the truth. I never have gone out and done it, mostly because all the guys I knew who did ended up being shot by the farmers or being arrested."

Roxas snickered, and then turned back to the window again. "I kind of want to pet them," he admitted softly. "I've been to aquariums and zoos and things like that, but I've never seen farm animals before. If my brother was here, you'd probably have to tie him to the seat to keep him from jumping out of the car."

"Have I ever mentioned that you're really adorable?" Axel asked him, and Roxas could hear the warmth in his voice. He felt himself blushing, and tried to push it down so Axel wouldn't notice. "No, you really are. You have this huge badass persona, and then you're all 'I wanna pet the _cows_!'. It's kind of ridiculous."

"Shut up," Roxas growled, rubbing at his eyes with a sigh. "You're destroying my masculinity and self-esteem."

"What masculinity?" Axel asked slyly.

"The masculinity that enables me to kick your ass," Roxas replied. Not that he'd had a chance to fight Axel (he should look into sparring with him soon), but he didn't doubt the truth of the statement anyway.

"Please, like you could actually beat me," Axel scoffed. "You may be good, but I can fight long distance. And fire is far more offensive than light is, little goody two-shoes."

"You really think so?" Roxas asked, carefully keeping his voice without emotion. "When we get done with this, I think we should find out for sure."

"You're on," Axel responded, the challenge in his voice clear. Roxas just smiled to himself, then turned back to the window and went back to watching the cows graze. Except for the soft music playing from the radio, the rest of the ride was silent.

---

Figaro, it turned out, was actually a small castle at the edge of a desert with the town inside of it. They were welcomed at the front doors of the castle by a pair of dangerous-looking guards carrying pikes and unconcealed guns at their sides. The first place they visited was a hotel, which Axel quickly checked them into with the assumption that they wouldn't be finding Celes right away. Then they went outside and acted the part of proper tourists, wandering the shops and casually asking people if they knew a woman named Celes. Most of the employees in the stores just shook their heads and continued trying to sell them stuff. It wasn't until they were at an item shop, with Roxas stocking up on a few Potions and Ethers so that he'd actually be prepared for his next mission, when they were told to try at the bar.

"He's not old enough to drink," the bartender stated immediately as Axel and Roxas seated themselves at the swiveling chairs.

"That's fine, we're not really here to drink," Axel replied. "We've been looking for someone, and were told to try at the bar. Have you heard of a woman named Celes?"

"Can't say that I have," the bartender replied gruffly. "And if you're not going to drink anything, I'd like you to get off the stools. They're for paying customers."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Fine, get me a beer then. And get him a glass of water or something."

"Very well," the bartender said, not sounding very happy about it, but he shuffled away to get Axel's drink anyway.

"Did you say you were looking for Celes?" a voice on Axel's left asked once the bartender was out of earshot, and Axel and Roxas both turned to look at the speaker, a big heavily-muscled man with short, spiky hair.

"...Yeah," Axel said slowly. "You know where we can find her?"

"Sure, she's a friend of ours," the big man said, gesturing at his older companion. The other man looked up briefly, raising his glass in a greeting, and then returned to his drink. "That's Cyan, and I'm Sabin. Celes is up at the throne room visiting the king."

"Great," Roxas sighed, jumping a bit as the bartender returned and thunked a large glass of water down in front of his face. "There's no way we'll get an audience with the king."

"She'll have to leave the king some time," Axel pointed out, then took a sip of his beer. "We'll just have to find her later."

"Celes said she was going to leave immediately upon finishing her conversation with King Edgar," Cyan said from Sabin's far side. "It isn't likely you'll be able to approach her, unless, of course, she decides she would like to be approached."

Axel and Roxas shared a disappointed look.

"Look, you don't mean her any harm, do you?" Sabin asked quickly. When Axel shook his head, he continued with a half-smile. "I can get you in to see her right now, if you like. I can't promise she'll talk to you, but at least you'll have a chance to get whatever you came here for."

"That's surprisingly nice of you," Roxas murmured softly.

"I like to be helpful," Sabin said simply, and eased himself off his stool. Axel practically inhaled his beer, and then followed his lead. Roxas quietly fished out some munny and put a little bit on the counter, hoping it was just enough for only the beer, then the four of them trooped out of the bar and made their way to the huge double doors of the throne room.

"Welcome back, Prince Sabin!" one of the guards at the gate called out as they walked up, "and Sir Cyan as well, of course. Are the other two friends of yours?"

"Sort of," Sabin replied. "They came to see Celes, actually, so I figured I'd walk them in. Nothing against the rules with that, right?"

"As long as they're with you, Prince, they're as welcome as any of King Edgar's friends," the other guard said, and then the two of them grabbed the doorhandles and pulled them open together.

"You didn't say you were the prince," Roxas observed quietly, and Sabin gave him a quick look over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, I gave up the throne a long time ago," he replied, and didn't say anything else.

Axel and Roxas took to observing their surroundings with a great amount of curiosity. The walls weren't quite as opulent as Roxas was expecting, though a few ancient-looking tapestries were hanging from the top of the wall. But there weren't any paintings or random gold statues or anything else you'd expect from a castle—this place was clearly made for function, not for beauty.

They all walked up a set of stairs set at the back of the hallway, at the top of which they found themselves in a large anteroom staring at another set of guarded doors.

"Prince Sabin, Sir Cyan," the guards chorused together (a little bit creepily, in Roxas' opinion), and opened the doors without even trying to start a conversation. The throne room was huge, of course, and a handsome man sat at the throne, leaning forward as he spoke to a blonde woman standing before him. Said woman spun around as the four of them entered, interrupting whatever she'd been saying, and Roxas found himself rather stunned by her beauty. But, though she greeted both Cyan and Sabin with warm smiles, her expression turned almost frosty when she gazed on him and Axel.

"Brother!" the handsome man said, standing from his throne and throwing his cape back. He stepped forward quickly, and the two blond men embraced shortly, before Edgar turned his gaze on the others. "Who are these gentlemen you've brought home today?"

"I met them down at the bar, actually," Sabin replied, and turned to the woman with a smile and a wink that Roxas puzzled at. "They said they wanted to talk to Celes, and we knew she was leaving shortly, so we thought we'd try to help out a little."

"We're looking for a guy named Locke," Axel spoke up quickly, giving the woman one of his most attractive grins. "We heard from someone that he's trying to hunt down something we're looking for, and then from someone else that you'd be the only person able to find him."

"Locke tends to tell me most of the places he's going," Celes admitted in a soft, musical voice. She turned her gaze from Axel to give Edgar a long look, and Roxas noticed the king tilt his head slightly in something almost like a nod. "I suppose I could help you find him, but I'm not going to guarantee you'll get anything out of this. He's not too fond of sharing his prizes. Meet me at the gates of the castle at sunrise, and we'll head out from there."

* * *

A/N: Oh dear. Is this another sidequest? Why yes, my darlings, I do believe it is! (The good news is: it's significantly more entertaining than the last one.)


	14. Chapter 14: Down With the Sun

A/N: So I wasn't going to update this week in favor of posting something else that I'd completed recently...but my beta hasn't returned the other story to me yet. D: So I suppose I'll just have to make do with this one for now instead. I'm sure you're all pleased with this decision. (P.S. The chocobos were a last-minute addition, so, uh, don't mind if it came out a little awkward. I was too lazy to send it to le beta.)

Warnings: OH GOD IS THAT A PLOT? RUN. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.

Disclaimer: At this point, I'm pretty sure that I don't even own the plot, let alone any of the characters.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Fourteen: Down With the Sun_

"We're going to have to go through the forest," Celes said in greeting as Axel and Roxas walked up to her, both still yawning. She pointed in the distance where they could see an area of trees in between some mountains. "Around the edge of the smaller chain of mountains is a cave filled with some strange, shadowy creatures. Locke's in there right now, looking for something he's been after for years."

"He went into that by himself?" Axel asked disbelievingly. "Why the heck would he do that?"

"Well, he's going to wait for me to fight whatever's at the bottom, and getting down shouldn't be too bad." Celes shrugged. "He's been adventuring for a long while now. He knows which battles to fight, and how many Potions and Ethers he needs to carry. But we had to start out early because Locke will have spent the night in a tent down there and we need to catch up to him. It'll take almost half the day just to get to the mouth of the cave as it is."

"Then what're we waiting here for?" Axel asked excitedly, and started walking in the direction the woman had pointed in. "Let's get going!"

Not far outside of the town, Celes stopped short suddenly, digging through her bag in search of something. Axel and Roxas shared a bemused look, and then turned to her just in time to watch her come out with a handful of some kind of plant.

"Uh, Celes?" Roxas asked uncertainly as the woman turned and shoved part of it into his hand, and then some in Axel's. When she didn't answer, he turned to Axel to look for some sort of clarification, but received nothing but a shrug. He turned back to Celes moments later, just in time to see her tuck a small whistle back into a pocket of her pants.

"What are we doing?" Axel asked slowly, raising the plant up to his face and wrinkling his nose at the smell. "Ugh, this is disgusting."

"We're getting wild chocobos to travel with," Celes said, raising her eyebrows at him. "It's kind of old-fashioned, I know, and you hardly ever see chocobos any more, but I figured we might as well make use of them if a family's nearby. There's tracks all over the ground, if you know what you're looking for—and I do."

As she was talking, said family of creatures had started running in their direction. Roxas stared at the huge birds with no small amount of curiosity, and couldn't stifle a smile as he saw a couple smaller birds run out from behind the three bigger ones, snapping at each other.

"We're going to _ride_ those?" Axel asked, sounding faintly nervous as one of the chocobos came up to him and started tugging at the plant in his hand with its beak. Roxas snickered at him, then reached out to pet one of the smaller ones that had nearly run into him as he calmly let another of the bigger ones eat out of his hand. Celes, he noticed, was rubbing the last large one's beak and talking softly to it. "No offense, but I really prefer cars."

"Well, there aren't any roads to where we're going, so you'll either have to make do or walk." Celes responded as the bird bent its knees so Celes could comfortably climb onto her back. The other two followed the first one's lead, and Roxas clambered on awkwardly, trying not to tug out any of the feathers.

"This is awkward," Axel said as he settled himself on his bird's back and shifted his own pack. Roxas just nodded his agreement before turning to Celes and waiting for further direction. "How do you control them?"

"They'll just follow mine, so you don't have to worry about that," Celes said softly, patting at the bird's neck as it let out an interesting noise and fluttered its wings. Seconds later, the three of them were off at a breakneck speed, the two smaller chocobos running around the adults' feet. Roxas couldn't help but laugh a little, delighted by this new form of traveling, and turned slightly to see how Axel was doing. The redhead still looked a little uncertain, but he gave Roxas a calm smile—only to let out a startled yelp as the bird jumped over a large rock in its way, and fling his arms around its neck. Roxas smirked at him, and turned forward again, peering around the bird's neck to watch as the forest loomed ever closer to them.

---

"When we get to the middle of the forest, it's going to be so dark we won't be able to see," Celes said casually as she swung her sword at a random beast that had jumped out of the trees at her.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Axel responded smugly, reaching out to ruffle Roxas' hair. "We've got ourselves a nice strong flashlight."

Celes gave Roxas a sharp look at that, and said in a surprised voice: "You're a light element?" Roxas just nodded, not feeling the need to say anything else. "That's...unsettling," she proceeded to murmur to herself.

"What's wrong with it?" Roxas asked a bit defensively, spinning Oathkeeper in his hand.

"Oh, nothing," Celes assured him with a warmer smile than she'd given either of them since they met her. "I was just sort of surprised is all. Neither of you struck me as having any spectacular magic. Usually I can feel it."

"How can you feel magic?" Roxas asked curiously, moving a step closer to her so he could hear her better. "I'm new to even having magic, honestly, and from what I've read, that's supposed to be impossible."

"It's kind of a long story," Celes sighed, flicking a stray strand of hair away from her eyes. "A few years ago, I was one of the leaders of Kefka's army, as I had been raised by a man very close to Kefka before he went insane. Some of the soldiers in that army were infused with the blood of Summons, and I was the first of them that was given the supposedly updated version of it. It gave me a few extra powers that I'm quite fond of."

"That's really interesting," Roxas said softly. "How many other soldiers got the infusion?"

"Only a handful," Celes replied. "Kefka was the first."

"Hey, you two lovebirds going to actually help out?" Axel called over to them suddenly, and Roxas looked up to find Axel surrounded by a group of beasts. "I mean, not that I can't take care of this myself or anything, but sometimes I feel like being lazy!"

Roxas moved to run toward them, but Celes shook her head and gestured for him to stay put. Curious, he did as she wanted, and eyed her uncertainly as she seemed to gather energy, her cape waving in a strange wind that surrounded her. When she threw out her arms a few moments later, ice seemed to form in midair, rushing toward Axel, and it easily killed four of the creatures. A few more were left, and Axel made short work of them, then walked over with a grin.

"Fire, light, and ice," he said, sounding unusually thoughtful. "We make a really interesting combination. If you don't mind me asking, what's Locke's element?"

"He says he doesn't really have one," Celes replied, "but I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with the dark. He's stunningly good at sneaking around—he's the one that saved me from being executed, actually, after I defected. I don't think he would have gotten past all those guards without a little magical help, no matter what he says."

"It's kind of interesting how we're all opposites," Roxas said slowly, thinking back to the times he'd spent scouring the library for information. "Like usually attracts like, when it comes to magic."

"Well, sometimes opposites work just as well together," Celes assured him, spinning away from him and walking off again. "I'm pretty sure Locke's old girlfriend was a healer of some sort, and Terra's a fire elemental, but she's my best friend. A lot of the so-called laws of magic aren't the truth. You shouldn't believe everything you read."

"Well, what crawled up her ass and died?" Axel asked flippantly.

"I'm pretty sure you're her problem right now," Roxas said pointedly, "as she was perfectly fine until you came waltzing over. I think the two of you are textbook examples of opposites clashing instead of getting along."

"She's just intimidated by how gorgeous I am."

"Yeah, right," Roxas scoffed. "Have you even bothered to look at her?"

"Uh oh, do I have competition?" Axel snickered, snagging an arm around Roxas' waist and slowing down. "You do know that I have to take out anyone else that catches your eye until you finally admit you're madly in love with me, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm a hundred percent gay—that's something I figured out a long time ago. But I also realized that it doesn't keep me from noticing when women are attractive. I've got eyes, you know, and they work perfectly fine."

"Oh, good," Axel sighed in mock relief, giving Roxas' waist a gentle squeeze. "Because I didn't think I could wait until we found the magicite if that weren't the case."

"What was that you were saying about lovebirds before, Axel?" Celes snapped suddenly, standing with her arms on her hips and glaring at them. She was a fair distance in front of them still. "Get your feet moving! You notice how it's getting darker? We don't want to dawdle in this darkness!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Axel said cheerfully, giving the woman a terrible salute and releasing Roxas as they put on speed.

A few moments later, they were indeed doused in darkness, and Roxas nearly tripped over a root as it overtook his senses. He heard a swear nearby, and knew it was Axel without having to check, so he took a few uncertain moves forward before holding out his hand and concentrating on having a little ball of light form in it. He smiled in triumph as it lit up enough to perfectly show off the area immediately around them—Axel, on the very edges of his light, was fighting with a vine that had gotten wrapped around his ankle, and Celes was standing a foot in front of him with her sword ready for an attack.

"You okay, Axel?" Roxas called over to his boyfriend. His voice sounded oddly muffled, as if he was talking from the inside of a heavy cloth bag.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Axel snarled, sending a tiny fireball at the vine and freeing his leg. "Celes? You're looking a little tense over there."

"We need to hurry up," Celes responded, sounding surprisingly tense, and Roxas was immediately on guard. "I don't know exactly what's going on, but this darkness feels strange. I always knew it was magical, but it feels more powerful right now, and I really don't feel like facing whatever's casting this spell. Stick close to me, okay? I don't want us to get separated."

Axel and Roxas did as she requested, though they made sure not to get so close that they wouldn't be able to fight if they were attacked, and Celes slowly began leading the way through the dark. Unfortunately for them, there was no warning that the beast was attacking until the ground suddenly moved beneath them, lifting them straight into the air. A sick-smelling wind started up around them as they flew up. Roxas felt his knees begin to buckle, his vision blackening around the edges, and fought desperately against passing out as he pulled his keyblades out.

"What the hell?" he gasped as his vision suddenly became whole and he realized both Axel and Celes had disappeared. He was still moving upwards on the ground, until finally he was high above the trees and he could see the sun in the distance, but distorted with the light oddly diluted. Seconds later, the ground was moving again, this time turning him around and moving horizontally until he found himself staring into a pair of intelligent yellow eyes.

"Little light," it said without moving its mouth, "you have strayed too far."

"...What?" Roxas asked, utterly lost, and tilted his head to the side.

"Little light," it said again, "you are too far from your disconnected heart. Kingdom Hearts hungers for you, your flesh and blood, the soul it has been denied for long, long years. The further away you are, the faster the darkness will get to you, until all the light is gone."

"What are you?" Roxas asked, and realized for the first time that he was completely unafraid, completely emotionless, completely blank to what was happening.

"We are nothing, little light," the voice whispered, growing distant, and the blackness was returning to Roxas' vision. "We are the souls that have been destroyed. We are all that will be left if the Kingdom returns. Little light, you must return to your heart."

"My...heart?" Roxas asked softly, and then the blackness was complete and the next thing he heard was his name being called in a half-familiar voice that he couldn't quite place. "Is that you, S..."

"Roxas!" the voice called again, and it was clearer this time, clear enough that he knew who it was for sure. "Roxas, get up!"

"Stop yellin'," Roxas murmured hazily, slowly opening his eyes and staring at Axel. "Feel sick."

"Here's a Potion," Celes musical voice came from out of his view, and he just barely turned his head to see her hand moving an open bottle closer to his mouth. Axel's hand reached out and snatched it from her, before tilting the bottle up against his lips until he could feel the cold liquid splashing against them. His lips parted, and Axel helped him drink. "That thing hit you first, and tried to suck out all of your energy. You were almost dead by the time we managed to get it off."

"How are you feeling?" Axel asked tensely as he pulled the bottle away. "Do you need another?"

"I'm okay for now," Roxas replied, stretching as he felt the energy starting to return to him. The backs of his hands scraped against a tree trunk, and he could just barely feel the scratching. "Help me up?"

Axel dutifully grabbed his hand and started pulling him up, smiling shakily as Roxas slipped on the fallen leaves before finally regaining his feet and leaning back against the tree again. "Sooooo. How did it feel to have your energy being sucked out?"

"Axel!" Celes snapped, sounding surprised, but Roxas just laughed, and she turned a glare on him. "You two are always like this, aren't you?"

"Only on bad days!" Axel replied cheerfully, eyeing Roxas as the blond took one of his own potions and started sipping slowly at it.

"And every day is a bad day when you're in our line of business," Roxas added dryly, prompting a curious look from Celes, but he didn't bother to clarify what he meant by that, and she just shrugged it off. "So, disaster's averted and the forest is safe again. More or less. Can we get this thing over with?"

"Of course," Celes said briskly, turning and pointing in a direction that looked the same as any other direction to Roxas—trees, trees, trees, and a little bit of moss. "We'll go that way for another, oh, hour at the most, and then another hour or so to the mountains. We might make it about halfway through before we have to rest for the night."

"When are we going to meet up with Locke?" Axel asked curiously, setting out in the direction Celes had pointed in. Roxas followed him, still sipping quietly at the potion.

"He'll probably be wandering around near the end of the cave waiting for us," she replied, not sounding entirely confident about that fact, "so he'll join us when we get down there. And then we can explain what's going on to him, and we'll be heading off for our next destination."

"Next destination?" Roxas muttered unhappily, tucking his empty bottle back where he'd gotten it. "What are we wasting our time here for, then?"

"Well, we need a bargaining tool," Celes informed him quietly, and there was something off about her smile. "We need to get on an airship, and Setzer doesn't do anything for free."

* * *

A/N: I...have pretty much nothing to say so um. REVIEW, BITCHES. :D


	15. Chapter 15: You're the Stars

A/N: The original title for this chapter was "hi, my name is fifteen, and i'm an alcoholic". Oh, filler titles, how do I love thee? Anyway, for a change of pace, I took the title of this chapter from the opera scene in _Final Fantasy VI_, because, well, just because. You expected a real reason? (I love the opera scene: "I'm the darkness, you're the stars. / Our love is brighter than the sun. / For eternity, for me can there be, only you, my chosen one...")

Warnings: (Badly-written) violence! Boys making out! Cursing!

Disclaimer: Still don't own them. D:

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Fifteen: You're the Stars_

"I hate this cave!" Roxas heard Axel snarling from somewhere on the other side of the wall that had closed behind him. Roxas just sighed and shook his head, pressing at various points of the wall and looking for some sort of switch. He had little hope of finding one, of course, but Celes was on the other side of the once-archway doing the same thing. "Burn, you creepy little shadow fuckers, burn!"

"Axel, don't waste all of your magic!" Roxas yelled at the wall, knowing it was pointless. They were quickly running out of Ethers, as the shadows Axel was yelling at were immune to physical blows. In fact, Roxas was the only one that could touch them with anything besides magic, and he'd been the one divesting them of their Potions, though not quite at the rate Axel was downing the Ethers.

"I'm beginning to hate this cave too," Celes admitted with a soft sigh, glaring at the wall as if it had somehow offended her. "There's entirely too many trapped doors. Do you think there's even a switch in this one?"

"I'm not finding any," Roxas said with a sigh, punching once (and futilely) at the wall before giving up with a sigh and leaning against it instead. "Maybe Axel will trip over something and smash into a wall and—AAGH."

"Or maybe I'll find the switch while you're imagining terrible things happening to your friend," Celes murmured a bit smugly, smiling down at him as she stepped over him and into the room, "and you'll fall ungracefully into the room and be utterly useless as I save him."

"Either she's discovered an inexplicable crush on Axel," Roxas grumbled to himself as he got up and dusted himself off, watching as Celes rained icicles down on a group of shadows, "or she's a closet sadist."

"Yo, Rox, a little more help here?" Axel called over, and Roxas watched dispassionately for a moment as Axel's fiery chakram cut a path through the shadows that was almost immediately closed before leaping into the fray himself. He pulled the keyblades out and spun into their midst, and it wasn't long before the three of them had finished off every last one.

"Are we almost done yet?" Roxas asked quietly, pulling a Potion out of his pocket and handing it over to Axel. The redhead gave him a weak smile, panting a little, and gulped the liquid down without even looking at it. "Because I don't know about you two, but I'm getting kind of tired."

"We should get to the safe area soon," Celes responded, dusting herself off and re-sheating her sword. "I could certainly do with a rest myself."

"I feel alright," Axel said loftily, throwing the empty bottle across the room and sauntering off in the direction of the far exit. "But if you two need to get your beauty rest, I suppose I'll just have to hunker down with you."

"You are so full of shit," Roxas snickered lightly, falling into step beside Axel, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Celes paused to pry open a treasure chest in a little cove beside the exit. She seemed unsurprised, but cheerful, as she pulled back from it with nothing in her hands. "With the way you use your magic, you've got to be feeling it more than either of us."

"Now that's just silly," Axel said brightly. "And, ooh, look, what's through that door? You go first, Roxas!" Without ceremony, he pushed Roxas ahead of him and into a tiny room. Roxas would have tried to spin around and dodge out of the room immediately, if he hadn't seen the light-spewing barrel in the middle of it.

"I found the safe area!" he called back, smirking as he turned around and saw Axel's pouting face.

"Excellent," Celes said cheerfully as she stepped into the room behind them, eyeing the surroundings without interest. Without ceremony, she walked over to a large treasure chest in the corner and started pulling stuff out of it.

"What's that?" Roxas asked uncertainly, watching as Axel walked over to help her pull things out. Celes gave him a strange look over her shoulder, as if she couldn't believe he didn't know, and Axel tensed beside her.

"It's a tent," Axel explained eventually, his voice even. "It used to be that adventurers would have to carry them around on their own, but somebody eventually thought better of it and just started packing heavy-duty tents in chests in random caves. I'm pretty sure something magical keeps them from being destroyed or stolen."

"Why not just build a house or something, then?" Roxas finally moved over to help as well, peering curiously into the chest before pulling out some long metal poles. "Beds, at the very least."

"Some people still like to carry and set up their own tents," Celes chimed in softly, still giving Roxas the same strange look. "This is common knowledge, Roxas. Why don't you know it?"

"He's never been adventuring before," Axel said quickly before Roxas could reply, and gave Roxas a meaningful look. "The people he was staying with didn't put much stock into it, but I met him a couple weeks ago and he seemed interested, so he left."

"I see," Celes said slowly, and let the matter drop, though she continued giving Roxas strange looks as they set up the tent. There were four more chests, two each on either side of the bigger one, and Axel quickly explained that they held individual sleeping bags for inside the tent.

"Well, sweet dreams, then," Celes said as they finally finished setting everything up. She had her sleeping bag set up as far from Axel and Roxas as possible, and she was eyeing their set-up—the two sleeping bags as close beside each other as they could be without connecting—with some curiousity. Roxas ignored both her and Axel as he crawled into his own sleeping bag, stretching out on his back as he usually did.

A few minutes later, he found himself still staring into the blackness at the top of the tent. Beside him, the sound of Axel's breaths belayed the fact that he was still awake as well, and Roxas found himself sighing before inching himself the slightest bit closer to his boyfriend.

"Feeling lonely?" Axel murmured as he did so, but Roxas didn't say anything. Moments later, he could hear the soft rustling sounds of Axel moving, and then Axel was leaning half over him and Roxas could just barely see the man's eyes.

"Axel," he said simply, as if in greeting, and didn't move. Axel chuckled softly and then moved forward, kissing him slowly and running a hand down Roxas' body. Roxas made a surprised noise as Axel's hand slid into his boxers, and he pushed at the other's chest until he got the right idea. "Axel," he hissed more urgently, and bit his lip as Axel wrapped a hand around him. "Are you nuts? Celes is—"

"Fast asleep," Axel assured him in a whisper, pumping his hand slowly, and Roxas bit his lip again, whimpering. "If we don't make too much noise, I don't see any reason that has to change."

"There is something completely wrong with your head," Roxas snarled softly, reaching up to pull Axel back in for another kiss. Axel moved willingly, and Roxas could feel the sly smile against his lips for a moment, and then he was focused only on not making any noise and the feel of Axel's hand on him.

---

"Did you two sleep well?" Celes asked softly when Axel and Roxas eventually left the tent the next morning—or, at least, they assumed it was morning. Roxas just blushed and grumbled something, while Axel grinned widely at the woman.

"Great," he said cheerfully, sitting down and humming. Roxas rolled his eyes as he rushed off in search of somewhere private, and when he came back, Axel was still humming.

"In a good mood, are we?" he asked dryly, sitting down beside Axel and opening the package of pastry that he was offered.

"No interruptions!" he said cheerfully, and Roxas narrowed his eyes as Celes looked over at them curiously. "No Xigbar poking his head where it doesn't belong! Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?"

"I take it your sleep gets interrupted often?" Celes asked quietly, and Axel looked at her in surprised almost as if he'd forgotten she was there.

"You could say that," Axel eventually replied with a grin, before he got up and yawned. "I'm going to start taking down the tent, 'k?"

"Have at it," Roxas said disinterestedly, digging through his bag in search of another pastry. He eventuallly pulled one out, and cheerfully started unwrapping it even as Celes started to get up and help Axel. When he was done a few minutes later, he got up to help as well, and it wasn't long before they'd packed everything back into the chests and were on their way again.

The rest of the way through the cave was relatively easy, in comparison to the first part. They wandered through for a few hours, every so often coming across an empty chest that they were assured was Locke's doing, and were attacked fairly often by the strange, shadowy creatures that had thus far infested the cave. But it was remarkably lacking in traps.

"I guess they figured that anybody who'd made it this far deserved to get their reward," Axel laughed as he burnt another shadowy creature into wisps of smoke. "Convenient, eh?"

"No, it isn't," Celes responded tensely. "Haven't you noticed that these shadows are getting stronger the farther we go? There's going to be something awful up ahead, and we haven't even run into Locke yet."

The ground began shaking almost immediately after she'd uttered her sentence, much to Roxas' consternation, and a moment later they could all hear a distant roaring sound.

"Speak of the devil," Celes sighed, and took off in a dead run, dodging whatever shadows tried to attack her. Roxas and Axel chased after her, following the sounds of roaring as much as they followed the sight of her cape fluttering behind her. Eventually, they skidded to a halt at the entrance of a large cavern, and with a cry of "Locke!" Celes had run inside to jump in the way as ice shot from the ground in a straight line towards him. With a bright flash, the ice seemed to be absorbed into Celes, but she wasn't as lucky with the next attack, when a long tail lashed out and knocked her off her feet.

"That was a lot more foolhardy of her than I'd expect," Axel said slowly, sounding surprised, and then turned to Roxas. "Do we need a plan?"

"Already got one," Roxas replied, pulling out his keyblades and stepping into the room. "The thing's made of ice. I'll go slam on it with my keyblades for a few minutes while you summon up the strongest fire magic you can and melt the thing."

"Simple," Axel said approvingly, stopping far enough away from the monster that he didn't feel he was in risk of being attacked without noticing, "and elegant. I approve. Go do your thing."

Roxas nodded once, and then ran forward with his swords out, jumping at the last minute to land in front of Celes and Locke and block the tail when it came in to slam them into the ground. He looked back long enough to notice that Celes and Locke were both still alive, if looking rather weak, before running forward and swinging his keyblades at the monster's face. What followed was a lot of roaring as Roxas dodged each attack the beast made and Celes stepped forward every so often to absorb all its magic.

"Hey, watch this!" Axel called eventually, just as Roxas was starting to run out of breath, and Roxas barely had time to jump away before the firestorm came spinning over to them. He watched with awe as Axel's attack seemed to suck in the icy monster and swirl it around in the vicious whirlwind. He could see it getting smaller and smaller in the fire, until finally only a small dark spot was left. When the fire disappeared, whatever it was fell to the ground with a soft clacking noise.

"Now that is what I call magic," Axel said with some satisfaction as he pulled out an Ether and then drank it down like he hadn't had anything to drink in a month. "Did you see that? How awesome am I?"

"Very," Roxas said dryly, turning to Celes and Locke to help them up. Celes was already shakily sipping at a Potion, but Locke was staring around hazily as if he had no energy to do anything. Roxas kneeled before him, pulling out a Potion and holding it up to the man's lips to help him drink. He took the moment to look this Locke over—he was attractive enough, with a rather elfin face and a mess of dirty blond hair held back with a bright blue headband.

"Thanks," the stranger said roughly when he'd finished the Potion, before reaching into his own pockets and downing another one. Then he turned to Celes, gave her a charming smile as she glared at him, and said in a rush: "I didn't go in to fight it by myself on purpose, I swear, I was just wandering around waiting for you and got bored!"

Roxas snickered. Celes turned her glare on him, and he shrugged innocently. "I'm Roxas," he introduced himself to Locke, holding out his hand for the man to shake. "The other guy's Axel. We're looking for the Phoenix, and were told you could help us find it."

"Yeah, I could do that," Locke responded with a grin, refusing any help as he levered himself to his feet. "But you'll have to get to the magicite itself before me if you want to keep it for yourselves. I'm a firm believer in finders keepers, and have a lot of powerful friends."

"We've got a few of those too," Axel said as he sauntered up beside Roxas, and held out his hand palm up—there was a softly glowing magicite sitting there, and with a smile he handed it over to Roxas. "For you. I don't think this guy and I will get along too well."

"So what're you two looking for the Phoenix for?" Locked asked curiously, his eyes following Roxas' movements as he shoved the magicite into one of his pockets.

"What's anybody want the Phoenix for?" Axel responded flippantly.

"You said last night that you only met a few weeks ago," Celes said, her voice suspicious.

"Maybe I was lying!" Axel suggested.

"Maybe Axel's an idiot," Roxas snapped, elbowing his boyfriend in the side. Locke snickered. "We did only meet a few weeks ago. But our need is the same. Let's just say we've got a common acquaitance and leave it at that, okay?"

"Sure, that's good enough," Locke agreed easily, fending off Celes' warning look with a shrug. "Had to have met somehow, I suppose. Now, let's get ourselves into that next cavern—there's bound to be some good treasure in there."

"I do so like the way thieves think," Axel said with a wistful-sounding sigh.

"Treasure hunter!" Locke snapped at him, glaring.

"Different words, same story," Axel grinned at him, winking. "Though 'treasure hunter' certainly does have a nicer ring to it. I guess I'd prefer to be called that too."

"Axel, stop causing trouble," Roxas groaned, stepping up between Axel and Locke as the treasure hunter glared daggers at his boyfriend. "Locke, please just ignore him. He gets kind of insufferable when he's smug."

"Yeah, well, if it wasn't for me, you guys would probably have died," Axel pouted, crossing his arms.

"We'd have killed it eventually," Celes interrupted, and Roxas could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "But you did save us a lot of time, so thank you for that, at least. Now make yourself useful again and open up some of those chests."

Axel sighed dramatically and then did as he was told, Roxas trailing after him and delighting in being useless. There were a dozen small chests in the room, six to one side and six to the other, and most of them held nothing more interesting than Potions and Ethers. Locke seemed similarly disappointed when he and Axel met up in the middle, where there was a large treasure chest waiting for them, but he seemed to cheer up a little when they realized the chest was locked.

"Nothing I can't handle!" Locke assured them, setting to work almost immediately. However, a few minutes later, the chest still hadn't opened, and the man kicked it viciously in defeat.

"Nothing you can't handle, huh?" Axel asked sardonically.

"Usually I'm not lying when I say that," Locke said ruefully, scratching at his head with one of his lockpicks. "There's something else going on with this thing, because I could have sworn I heard it click a lot."

"Maybe it needs a special key," Roxas suggested, and found himself walking over to the treasure chest without really meaning to. When he was immediately in front of the chest, his hand raised, not of its own accord, but as if the keyblade itself was pulling it up, and aimed straight for the tiny keyhole set in the box. A bright white light shot from the top of it and into the lock, and there was a strangely echoing clicking noise before the lid of the chest slowly rose on its own.

"...That was kind of awesome," Locke breathed, rushing forward and peering into the chest. Roxas didn't move, instead chosing to stare at his keyblade, and he pretended not to notice as Axel moved up behind him.

"Roxas?" Axel asked quietly, and Roxas tucked his keyblade away before turning to look at him. "How did you know to do that?"

"I didn't," he admitted softly, and finally moved forward to check out the contents of the chest along with Locke and Celes. Locke was just finishing attaching a new and wicked-looking dagger to his side with a childishly gleeful grin, and turned to Roxas with two more magicite glowing dully in his hand.

"Here," the man said, placing a stone in Roxas' hand, and then the other into Axel's. "There were four in here, and I figured we should share since we all took part in this. And, besides, I've got good news. We've got a map!"

"A map?" Axel asked, eyes lifting from his inspection of the magicite to look at Locke warily. "No offense, but we can't afford another sidetrip."

"That's fine," Locke said, grin widening as he opened the map and showed it to them. "These, gentlemen," he said theatrically, "are the Phoenix Caves."

* * *

A/N: ...Yeah, I have nothing to say. I feel like my head is going to explode. Leave me happiness, plzkthx.


	16. Chapter 16: With a Little Drop of Poison

A/N: First and foremost, I'd like to point out that I don't even like Rinoa...so if I messed her characterization up during her short cameo, I apologize. Other than that, there's not much to say. Life has been extraordinarily busy lately, so, uh, hooray for lazy days?

Warnings: Wait, wait, are we hinting at...heterosexuality? Holy CRAP. We haven't seen that since Xigbar! Uh. Vague mentions of drunks and gambling.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This makes me sad.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Sixteen: With a Little Drop of Poison_

Roxas found himself looking around the town with wide eyes as they made their way to the far end, where the airship they were going to bargain their way on was apparently stationed. Even the Undground that he was used to couldn't compare to where they were now—drunks in this city stumbled about without a care, and stayed wherever they collapsed, and people would just step over them while chatting merrily. There were lights everywhere, each one proclaiming that you would 'Win Here!', and groups of scantily clad girls with natural-looking bunny ears walked the streets, almost every one of them easily as tall as Axel. And at the far end was a large building proclaiming itself to be The Falcon, and shaped like an airship of old, back when they'd first created the flying machines.

"I never get tired of coming to this city," Axel remarked, discretely hooking a finger in Roxas' pants and tugging until the smaller man got the point and moved closer to his side. His voice lowered and he leaned over slightly even as he continued walking so that only Roxas would hear what was being said. "Watch where you're going here, Roxas. The Organization doesn't have the same power here. In fact, if it were found out you were part of it, you might not make it out alive."

"So our bad reputation is actually bad here?" Roxas asked, chuckling softly, but adjusted his wristband to make sure it was fully covering his tattoo. "Don't worry. I'll be careful."

Axel nodded and then retained his usual position, walking through the crowds as if he owned the town. Interestingly enough, most people seemed to make way for Axel, even though they'd crowded back together once Locke and Celes had passed them, and Roxas found himself enjoying the rare moment of not having to push his way through people.

"Celes! Locke! Welcome back to The Falcon!" one of the elegantly dressed men at the door greeted as they walked up to the casino. Celes smiled at him, while Locke flipped the man a few coins. "And guests of these two are always welcome on the premises as well, of course! Welcome, gentlemen, I hope you find your fortunes here!"

"Uh, thanks," Roxas said a bit uncertainly, staring around in interest again. He'd never been inside a casino before and it was, if possible, even louder than the city itself had been. The sound of falling coins came from every direction, and there were so many blinking lights and flashing screens that he wasn't sure where to look first. He probably would have lost the group, curious as he was, if Axel hadn't thrown a companionable arm across Roxas' shoulders and kept steering him in the twisting direction Celes was leading them.

"Let's stop for a drink!" Locke called to her as they passed what appeared to be a slushy stand. "I've got a sudden craving for a Blue Demon!"

"You always have a craving for a Blue Demon," a light voice said from the stand, and Roxas turned to raise his eyebrows at the girl in front of him. She was tall and beautiful, with dark hair and kind black eyes. She wasn't wearing the same slinky outfit as most of the other women in the casino, but instead had on a tiny black dress covered with a long, but sleeveless, blue coat. A pair of wings hung off the end of the chain around her neck.

"There's just something about the woman serving it that always catches my attention, Rinoa," Locke said with his charming smile, even as Celes walked up to them with a scowl. "Besides, it just wouldn't be right taking these two into the Falcon without getting them the best non-alcoholic beverage you can find!"

"Good of you to show such charity," Celes said a little snippily, though she gave Rinoa a tiny smile. "But I'd really like to get our business over with, if you don't mind."

"Time enough for a drink," Locke said, patting her on the back. "C'mon. I know you can't say no to one of these!"

"Carry it with you," Rinoa suggested gently, turning to her machines and swiftly filling up four cups of a vivid blue slushy. "No charge for the new boys, just this once, but you still owe me, Locke!"

"You won't get in trouble for giving these out?" Roxas asked uncertainly, taking the cup he was offered and staring dubiously at it. Rinoa just laughed and shook her head, before turning back to Locke and holding her hand out demandingly.

"How about I owe you again next time?" he asked pitifully, pouting up at her.

"Don't even try that, Locke Cole!" The dark-haired girl put her hands on her hips and shook her head at him. "I can tell when you've just gotten back with a nice prize, and you've got that look on your face again! So pay up, buddy, or I'll get Angelo on you!"

"What's he going to do, lick me to death?" Locke asked, snickering, but reluctantly handed the munny over to Rinoa. She counted it cheerfully before dropping it into her till, and then turned back to them with a sunny smile. "Yeah, yeah. See you around Rinoa."

"Enjoy your hunt!" Rinoa replied, waving at them. "And, Celes, keep him out of trouble! I'd like my best customer back!"

"You going to drink that, Roxas?" Locke asked as they walked away, nudging Roxas' arm. "I don't think you're going to find the secrets of the universe in that thing, no matter how good it is."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," Roxas replied, smiling wanly, before taking a sip of the drink. The taste that hit his tongue surprised him—it wasn't at all like the slushies he was used to (which were, more often than not, made of so much ice you could hardly taste the flavor), and he found that he couldn't quite describe the taste. "What is this?"

"It's a cactus slushie, actually," Locke admitted, sipping at his own drink with a supremely satisfied look on his face. "Let me guess. You've never tasted anything like it, and can't tell if you like it, but you know you don't _dis_like it, right?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Roxas laughed softly, and glanced up at Locke a bit uncertainly. "Thanks for, uh, stopping to get us this. I wasn't expecting—"

"Well, we're all full of little surprises, aren't we?" Locke interrupted with a strange laugh, and broke off abruptly to rush forward to Celes' side. Roxas watched him, eyebrows raised, and then went back to his slushie with a shrug.

---

"Well, this is a pleasant enough surprise," Setzer said as the four of them trooped into the front room of the man's suite. He was eyeing Axel and Roxas with no small amount of curiosity. "I was hardly expecting you two to show up."

"You guys know each other?" Locke asked, surprised.

"I've had the pleasure of playing a few games with them," Setzer admitted with a half-smile, eyes settling themselves particularly on Roxas. "Roxas is a terrible poker player."

"I hope you're not expecting me to play cards with you again," Roxas said dryly. "I don't have enough money to lose on you."

"I'll be busy flying the airship, so you don't have to worry about that," Setzer assured him before turning to Lock and smiling almost predatorily. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, I got it, you conniving bastard," Locke replied lightly, untying one of the bags around his waist and throwing it into Setzer's open hand. "Almost got killed by some ice summon for my trouble, too."

"I did tell you there was a monster at the end," Setzer said evenly, opening the bag and pulling out a set of dice in an unsettling red color. "I suppose Axel was the one that saved you from your certain death?"

"How'd you guess?" Locke asked grumpily, crossing his arms and nodding his head at the bag. "So, we got what you wanted. Are we going to pay the Phoenix a visit?"

"Of course." Setzer turned with a dramatic flip of his hair, and pulled on a bust on the wall behind him. The bookshelves immediately split apart, sliding easily into the walls, and opening onto a set of steps leading up to the top of the casino. They walked up the short flight single-file, and Setzer pushed open a door above his head.

"So this is where you're keeping her, huh?" Locke asked quietly, walking over to the old airship and running his hand along it. "Sure brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"The memories are what keep me going these days," Setzer said softly, stepping up beside Locke and patting the hull of his ship himself. "And yes, Locke, I'm sure I don't want it. I've found my closure. You, on the other hand, may never get over your past. It's not fair for only one of us to have moved on."

"Well, as long as you're sure," Locke said, a bit uncertainly, and Setzer dropped his hand to the slightly shorter man's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Celes was already on the airship, getting it ready for take-off, and Roxas watched with surprise at her efficiency. She seemed incredibly familiar with everything that needed to be done, and Locke too—clearly they'd ridden on the thing plenty of times before. Axel, standing beside him, scratched the back of his head uncertainly as he watched the bustle around them.

"Kind of makes you feel superfluous, doesn't it?" he asked casually, and Roxas just nodded. Thankfully, it wasn't long before everything was set to go, and they watched curiously as Setzer pushed at a few buttons on a remote control. The roof above them split apart, sliding into the sides, and then Setzer was back at the wheel and starting the airship.

"You don't want to miss this view!" Celes yelled to them, pointing vaguely at the side of the airship, and Roxas and Axel walked over together, peering over the edges. The city below them was already looking pretty small, but as they raised ever higher, it seemed to get smaller and smaller until it looked like they were staring down at a highly developed ant colony. Roxas, holding lightly onto the raised edges, felt a hand crawl onto his own, and he looked over at his boyfriend with a small smile. Axel smiled back at him.

"Xaldin would be so jealous," he said softly. "He loves these old airships with a passion bordering on obsession. We'll have to make sure we shove this in his face as much as possible."

"You're terrible," Roxas said with a laugh, pulling his hand out from under Axel's own, and glancing over at the other three, who were huddling around the steering wheel. "Can we go inside?"

"I don't see why we wouldn't be able to," Axel replied uncertainly, walking over to the group. They quieted as he approached.

"Sure, I'll let you in," Setzer offered in response to Axel's question, and they walked over to the door down together. Setzer fished a key out of his pocket and stuck it in the doorknob, turning it sharply and pulling the door open. "Don't mess with any of the tables, and don't go into the engine room—that's clearly marked. The bathroom is on the far side, also clearly marked if you need to go. We'll all be up here if you need us. It's been a while since we've been able to enjoy the fresh air like this."

"Great, thanks!" Axel said with a brilliant smile, and jogged the short but winding flight of stairs down into the main cabin. It was made up like a casino, with a poker table to the right and a blackjack table on their left. Ignoring these, they made for a comfortable-looking couch set against a side wall with large windows showing the view outside.

"I never thought I'd get to ride on The Falcon," Roxas said softly, staring out at the clouds. "We've heard about it even Above, although mostly it's about how terrible it is that some man would create a flying casino. They call Setzer a nutcase, clinging to a past that he's never known."

"The people Above never fail to amaze me," Axel commented, shaking his head. "Setzer's the best gambler in the Underground, and he used to race these airships when he was younger, right up until his lover died in a crash. And this flying casino was sheer genius. People will pay absurd amounts of money just to have the right to gamble on this ship, never mind how much money they're willing to lose once they're here."

"And we get to ride this thing for free," Roxas added with a soft laugh, turning to Axel with a smile. "By the way, I have a present for you. I'd almost forgot about it until we found that magicite."

"Yeah?" Axel asked, looking almost pathetically excited. Roxas couldn't help but grin at the way the other's eyes lit up. "What is it?"

In answer, Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he'd stolen from Strago's hidden room. Feeling a bit silly, he straddled Axel's lap and clasped the necklace around his neck, and then leaned back slightly as Axel lifted the pendant to stare at it.

"...Is that phoenix fire?" Axel breathed as if he could hardly believe it, and Roxas just nodded as a light blush crossed his face. "How the hell did you get this? The Phoenix is supposed to already be magicite!"

"Strago was hunting it, apparently," Roxas shrugged. "I don't know why he didn't have the magicite, but he had a suit made of the feathers, and then there was this necklace.... I thought you'd like it."

"I do," Axel smiled, tugging Roxas down for a brief kiss. When the younger man pulled away, they were both smiling, and Roxas slid off his boyfriend's lap to return to his contemplation of the clouds. Axel reached over and grabbed Roxas' hand, twining their fingers together, and they sat like that for a few pleasant minutes.

"You two okay down here?" Locke's voice came moments before he stepped into view. "Setzer sent me down to make sure you weren't destroying his tables."

"I'm hurt and appalled that he'd think we'd do such a thing!" Axel said with mock indignation, putting a hand to his chest. He still hadn't taken his hand away from Roxas', but Locke didn't seem to notice. "And after he's known me for so long."

"I think that's why he was worried," Locke laughed. "Anyway, we're about to land on the island, so you should make sure you're prepared. There's a store in the next room if you need to stock up."

"We'd better do that," Axel said, yanking Roxas up as he stood. "Meet you on top in a few minutes, okay?"

* * *

A/N: I want it to be known that every time I read the part where Axel says "superfluous" I giggle inanely. I...can't figure out why.

For those of you familiar with Final Fantasy VI, yes, the backstories of Locke, Setzer, Celes, et al are very similar to their stories in their game. Rinoa's is, of course, needfully different, but Angelo is an adorable dog and had to be mentioned. For those of you UNfamaliar with the games, just let me say this: Setzer is way more kickass then KH makes him appear. Also, he fights with dice. Dice!

And, finally, to the best of my knowledge, the Blue Demon drink doesn't exist—which is a _shame_, really. The inspiration for it came from an energy drink made by Snapple called Rain: it's cactus-flavored, and just as Locke describes it. I'm disappointed to say I haven't been able to find them in years, though. I never got to decide if I liked them. (P.S. My beta was amused by Locke's love of a slushie, apparently thinking that he'd be far more badass and order "the KH equivalent of a pan-galactic gargle blaster".)


	17. Chapter17:Everyone Learns Faster on Fire

A/N: Christ, it's been a while. Like, way longer than I wanted it to be. Fuck real life, seriously. (Happy: I have new glasses! Fail: My health is, uh, worrisome? And mysterious! Fourteen blood tests at once, guys; it sucks so much.)

Warnings: Violence! Violence and epic failll~

Disclaimer: God, if I owned them I wouldn't actually need to worry about updating would I? Also, they would have had a happy ending. Screw you, Nomura!

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Seventeen: Everyone Learns Faster on Fire_

"Has anyone else noticed how hot it is in here?" Celes asked the group a few minutes into the cave.

"You only think that because you're such an ice princess," Locke responded teasingly, even as he wiped some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "You shouldn't have picked ice magic when they were experimenting on you!"

"Like I had a choice," Celes snapped, rolling her eyes and pulling her hair away from her neck. She held it there in her hand for a few moments before she let it drop with a sigh. "I knew Terra should have come on this little adventure with you. I think I'm going to melt."

"I'm comfy!" Axel chimed in cheerfully, and Roxas snorted. "But, you know, fire elemental and all. Such a nifty power."

"Here," Roxas interjected suddenly, cutting off whatever Axel was going to say next as he triumphantly pulled the string out of one of his munny bags. Without even thinking about it, he thrust the bag at Axel, who took it from him without complaint and stuffed it into his own bag. "Tie your hair up with this."

"Oh, thanks!" Celes said, sounding startled at the offer, and let Roxas drop the string into her hand. She peered at it thoughtfully for a moment before handing the string off to Locke and pulling her hair up in a high ponytail. "Here, I know you're good with knots. Give me a hand."

"You're so demanding, General," Locke sighed, but did as requested. "What do you think's causing this heat anyway?"

"Oh, probably the overabundance of them!" Axel pointed off to their right, and Roxas looked over to where a half dozen fireballs were floating in their direction. "If there's that many Bombs coming for us at once, you know there's got to be a lot of them hanging around this cave. Probably attracted here by the Phoenix."

"But I thought the Phoenix was already dead?" Celes said uncertainly. "Why didn't they leave when the heat source was gone?"

"You can't get rid of the Phoenix' fire," Roxas pointed out thoughtfully, pulling out his keyblades as the Bombs showed no signs of changing direction. "If something down here was ever lit on fire in a battle or something, that fire's probably still burning. As long as there's oxygen, I don't think anything can kill that fire."

"Any especially powerful fire-elemental might actually be able to," Axel replied pointedly, and Roxas saw him reach up to where the pendant was hiding underneath Axel's shirt. "But putting that much magical power into something..." He trailed off as the Bombs approached them, spinning his chakram out from their holders and loosening into his battle stance.

"I hate Bombs," Celes said bitterly, stepping back to let loose a strong ice spell. Seconds after they hit their enemies, the other three jumped into action. Roxas noticed out of the corner of his eye that Locke seemed to focus on one Bomb, bouncing around to dodge most of the attacks, while Axel kept back from them and threw his chakram at them. Roxas, however, leapt right into the middle of them, where he was the most effective, swinging his keyblades without any conscious thought. He actually found his mind wandering as he fought, his eyes straying towards Axel far too often.

"Look out!" Locke yelled suddenly, jolting him back to reality, and he spun and dodged automatically before he realized that he warning hadn't been meant for him. Most of the Bombs were already gone, but one had leapt toward Celes, growing bigger as it did so. "It's going to explode!"

Celes, panting heavily from her spell-casting, wasn't going to be able to dodge out of the way in time, and Roxas found himself taking a couple steps forward, not sure if he was going to be able to make it himself. He watched as Celes let out one last, weak, ice spell, and then Axel appeared almost as if out of nowhere, knocking the woman over and covering her body with his own. Seconds later, the bomb landed on his back and there was a bright flash as it exploded, and Roxas had to shield his face from the heat that emanated from the resulting fire.

"Shit!" Locke gasped, running forward with obvious concern, but he hadn't made it two steps before Axel, the back of his clothes singed, levered himself to his feet, and offered his hand to Celes. "Are you two alright?"

"Eh, we're fine," Axel replied, before nearly falling over from a coughing fit. Roxas ran over to him, preparing to catch him if necessary, but Axel recovered quickly, and muttered: "The only problem is the damn smoke."

"You're more powerful than I thought," Celes said quietly, her eyes troubled as she stared at Axel, and then her gaze switched over to Roxas and became thoughtful. "It's strange to suddenly find two powerful magic-users looking for the same thing we are. Especially people we've never heard of before."

"We try to keep ourselves to ourselves, you know?" Axel said uncomfortably, giving a shrug and shooting an uneasy glance at Roxas. "This isn't usually our type of thing, to be honest, but we've been kind of forced by circumstances."

"Circumstances which you can't give us details of?" Celes asked quietly.

"We don't ask you why you're searching for the Phoenix," Roxas pointed out coldly, crossing his arms and giving her a glare that would have made Saix proud. "And we'd really appreciate it if you didn't pry into our business. Why are you so suspicious of us, anyway?"

"I'm sorry," Celes sighed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose before giving them a wan smile. "I guess it's just in my nature to be suspicious. I've had too many people try to stab me in the back to trust strangers."

"She's had a lot on her mind anyway," Locke added defensively, stepping up beside Celes and glaring back at Roxas. "The Phoenix isn't for her, anyway, it's for me. She's just sort of along for the ride."

"Somebody's got to keep Locke in one piece," Celes added weakly, the smile fading as she turned from them and nodded in the direction the Bombs had come from. "Anyway, we should get moving. The map isn't very clear as to how deep these caverns go, and I don't want to be stuck here for days."

"I'm pretty sure it's about the same size as the other cave," Locke said decisively, pulling out the map and giving it a quick once-over. "And, according to this, we're happily low on trick doors, although most of the chests are locked beyond the map-maker's ability to open. Not that that's unusual. Amateur."

"You think everyone that's not you is an amateur," Celes teased him, and the two shared a smile that made Roxas fidget uncomfortably and glance over at Axel. Axel grinned at him and waggled his eyebrows, and Roxas had to hold back a laugh. "So, let's go get whatever those Bombs were guarding, and make our way to the Phoenix' lair, shall we?"

"Lead on, fair lady!" Locke said, bowing with a flourish, and the four of them continued on their way.

---

They stopped outside of the main cavern uncertainly, Axel wiping off some sweat that was running down the side of his face as he peeked into the huge area. They were all quite a few munny richer, with some new and interesting items that Locke had cheerfully passed around, and Roxas was beginning to feel weighted down with the loot.

"So, I can see the magicite just sort of hanging around in the middle of the big empty space," Axel said slowly, a note of concern coloring his voice. "That's kind of crazy suspicious."

"Think there's something hiding in the next cavern?" Locked asked curiously, unrolling the map again and showing them the area he was talking about. There was quite obviously something beyond what they could see of the area, but even the map didn't seem to have any idea what was on it. There was pretty much a large opening in the wall, and behind that was a big question mark and a stick figure of a man running away.

"That little stick figure looks _terrified_," Roxas said, snickering a little despite his nervousness. "I can't believe the guy who made this took the time to make such a detailed expression on a couple of lines."

"You would focus on that, wouldn't you?" Axel asked blandly, digging into his bag and pulling out an Ether. He downed half of it, and then offered the other half to Roxas, who took it gratefully.

"Aren't you scared?" Celes asked curiously. "There's something over there that made the person who defeated the Phoenix run away with his tail between his legs, and we're walking into this with no idea what we're facing."

"Yeah, I'm kind of terrified," Locke chuckled, sounding nervous. "Excited too, though. After all this time I spent searching, I'm finally about to get the greatest treasure man's ever known. The ability to bring someone back to life..."

"Well, we're never going to get it if we just stand here talking about it," Roxas said pointedly, pulling out his keyblades and stepping over to the entrance into the large cavern. He wanted to get in there and get this over with. Despite the Potions and Ethers, he was starting to feel worn down, and he didn't want to prolong the difficult fight he had ahead of him any longer.

"I'll take point," Axel offered gamely, stepping up beside Roxas. The blond felt a soft touch to his waist, and then Axel stepped forward and pulled his chakram out. Roxas heard the sound of Celes' sword sliding out of her scabbard, and he glanced back to find Locke tugging fitfully at his gloves. "Locke, you should probably grab the magicite, since you're the fastest out of all of us. We can argue over it later. Hope you'll be watching my back, Roxas."

"As if I'd let anyone else do it," Roxas muttered, "no matter how competent they were. No offense, Celes."

"None taken," Celes replied easily, giving him a tense smile. "Ready?"

"Set!" Locke continued for her, stepping up besides Roxas and giving the blond a rough pat on the back. Roxas spared him a short glare.

"Go!" Axel yelled cheerfully, and took off into the cavern. Roxas followed after him, keeping his eyes peeled, but they were almost on top of the magicite before whatever had been hiding appeared. Their only warning was a long tail that whipped through the air, narrowly missing Axel before he lit his chakram on fire and threw them in front of him. There was a loud clanking noise that startled Roxas, and then the chakram was coming back towards them, and Roxas had to fall to the ground to avoid it. Seconds later, he heard a scream that sounded suspiciously like Axel before the redhead was slammed into the ground next to him.

"What the hell is that thing?" Roxas snarled, running forward and quickly pouring a Potion into Axel's open mouth. He had his answer soon enough when an enormous dragon stepped into view, it's mouth opening in a roar that made the hair on the back of Roxas' neck stand on end.

"Oh, great," Axel grumbled, coughing as he started sitting up. Roxas turned to ask him how he was doing, but he'd barely opened his mouth before Axel had gasped in surprise and tackled him to the ground. "Face in my chest!" the redhead hissed panickedly, ducking his own face into Roxas' hair, and Roxas closed his eyes tight and bit his lip as the fire washed over them.

When it had dissipated and Roxas could feel the ground shaking underneath him as the dragon started moving toward them, Roxas pushed at Axel's chest until the other found the energy to move. Roxas rolled to his feet quickly, hovering worriedly next to Axel, who was breathing heavily from the attack, and looked around for the other two. To his surprise, he found them a few feet away and running full-speed away from the dragon, rather than attempting to help.

"Good luck, guys!" Locke called over his shoulder, the glow of the magicite barely visible in his hand. "Sorry to ditch you like this, but we forgot to tell you something the Organization probably should have already known: we're friends with Strago!"

And, just like that, they were gone.

"Can this get any worse?" Roxas hissed, reaching into his pockets and discovering that it could, in fact, do so. He was completely out of Ethers.

* * *

A/N: ...Dun dun DUN!


	18. Chapter 18: Don't Ever Look Back

A/N: Man, it's been a while. Again. In my defense, here is my life currently: my best friend is moving to Boston (I live in NJ!), my boyfriend may or may not be moving to Austin, my mom lost her job, my dad has to get surgery (again), and I am diseased (not with anything fatal, don't worry). Woo, life. Here, have some fic!

Warnings: Um. The usual? Language, violence, people being mean...and I still hate writing Xemnas. Haaaate.

Disclaimer: I OWN EVERYTHING DAMNIT. EVERYTHING.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Eighteen: Don't Ever Look Back_

"Fuck," Roxas said succintly, and he could tell that he sounded entirely too calm. Axel gave him a worried look, and then dug into his own pocket and pulled out an Ether, which he quickly swallowed.

"That was my last one," Axel informed him quietly, and Roxas swore again. "Protecting us from those Bombs and this dragon takes a lot out of me. You out too?"

"Yeah," Roxas sighed, taking that moment to look up at the dragon that was looming ever closer to them. Feeling rather detached from the situation, he idly wondered why it wasn't attacking them. "I think we can get out of here. Axel, do you have your chakrams?"

"Lucky me, I think I landed on one," Axel replied dryly, finally getting to his feet. Roxas heard him patting at the weapons, and figured the other already had them put way. "What's your plan?"

"Painfully simple," Roxas shrugged. "Once it gets close enough, I'm going to blind it with a burst of light in its eyes, and then we're going to run like hell."

"It's a beautiful plan," Axel said approvingly. Roxas felt the air move as the taller man spun around, and then there was a back pressed up against his. "What's the cue to run?"

"This!" Roxas yelled, raising his hand, palm in the direction of the dragon. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping Axel had the sense to do the same, and gritted his teeth as he gathered as much of his magic up as he could to practically shoot a laser from his hand. He knew he'd succeeded when he heard a roar and felt several burning hot drops of what must have been dragon blood land on him, and then he and Axel had taken off running, stumbling as the dragon thrashed around in pain and the ground shook beneath them.

"This," Axel gasped in between breaths as they bolted through the caverns, "is the worst fucking mission ever."

"Shut up and run!" Roxas snarled, his keyblades slipping from his hands as he almost tripped over some stray rocks. He heard them clatter to the ground, and felt his heart jump with the noise, but he refused to call them back, figuring that he would be just that much faster without them.

What felt like hours later, they had both slowed down considerably, unable to keep the desperate speed up with most of their energy gone, but were almost at the exit. Roxas gasped desperately, holding a stitch in his side, and jogged up the last few steps.

"We can't stop," he muttered when Axel tripped over the last step, skidding on the ground. He found a couple Potions in his pocket and, thankful that he still had some of them left, handed one over to Axel and drank one himself. Seconds later, as the small amount of energy the Potions could give them coursed through their bodies, they were on the move again, practically meandering their way through the forest.

When they finally made it out into the sunlight, Roxas was gratified to see that the airship was still there, though it was just starting up as they approached. Putting on a last, desperate burst of speed, the two of them managed to jump through the unlocked door just in time, and then proceeded to collapse on the hardwood floor in front of the very surprised item salesman.

"So," Axel said slowly as soon as he was breathing normally enough to talk. "What're we going to do now?"

"You know, that's a really good question," Celes' voice answereed, and Roxas looked up with a wince. She was standing in the doorframe, arms crossed, and a look that was colder than any they'd seen yet was gracing her face. The salesman was sidling back into the room from behind her. "And we're going to have to find an answer to that really soon. Can you guys stand?"

With a long sigh, Roxas maneuvered himself to his feet, using the wall as leverage to help. Axel, who was much lower on energy due to the obscene amounts of magic he had been using, simply raised a hand and waved it around until Roxas grabbed it and yanked him to his feet. Celes didn't say a word to them as she spun around and marched back up the stairs, and they followed her silently all the way up to the top, where Setzer was steering the airship. Locke turned to them and scowled.

"How did you get away from that dragon?" he asked quietly. "Strago's a damn blue mage and he had to run from the thing!"

"Blinded it," Roxas said shortly, wiggling his fingers at Locke pointedly and resisting the urge to smirk as the man winced.

"Yeah, he can shoot laser beams out of his fingers!" Axel chimed in cheerfully, and Roxas chuckled. "Bet you can't do anything that cool."

"Look, it doesn't matter how they got away," Setzer interjected tersely. "What matters is what we're going to do with them. We can't just let members of the Organization go!"

"How do you know we're part of the Organization?" Axel asked innocently.

"Strago was attacked by members of the Organization the other night looking for the Phoenix magicite," Locke explained shortly with a grim smile. "His ten year old granddaughter was threatened, his house was robbed, and now a couple of mysterious people show up just happening to be looking for the Phoenix magicite? Quite a coincidence, isn't it?"

"His granddaughter was attacked?" Axel asked sharply, shooting an unreadable look at Roxas. "You didn't te—shit."

"I take it you weren't there?" Locked asked smugly. "I'm not surprised. I guess this makes you the Thirteenth then, eh, Roxas?"

"What's it to you?" Roxas snarled, his fingers itching for the keyblades. He would have called them, but he noticed Celes looking at his waist as if just noticing that they were missing, and decided that it'd be best if they didn't know he could do that. Instead, he turned to Axel and said quietly: "It didn't seem important. I wasn't the one who tried to kill her."

"But you were going to let her die, weren't you?" Celes snapped. "A ten year old girl, dead, for your own greed!"

"Roxas isn't like that!" Axel yelled at her, releasing his chakram from their holders on his waist. Celes and Locke didn't even move at the obvious threat, but Roxas stepped closer to Axel and put a hand on the taller man's arm.

"Calm down," he murmured, watching as Axel took several deep breaths. "Don't waste your energy."

"Oh, yes," Setzer agreed, finally turning to face them with a smirk. The airship continued flying in a straight line without his help. "You'll probably need that energy to save Roxas, since he seems to have lost his weapons. Kind of pathetic, don't you think?"

With an inarticulate yell, Axel fired up the chakram that wasn't near Roxas and threw it at the gambler with a swift movement that the other wouldn't be able to dodge. But it bounced away from him without touching him, hitting a forcefield that had been invisible until the chakram had slammed into it. Roxas had to dodge away from the returning weapon, and Axel turned to catch it in an automatic motion as a confused look settled on his face.

"One of the magicites we got was Carbuncle," Celes offered to them quietly, holding out the glowing rock as if they needed proof. "We're protected from both magical and physical attacks."

"Great," Axel grumbled, hooking the chakram back on and giving Roxas a helpless sort of shrug. "Look," he said to the other three, "we've been cleverly tricked and defeated, and we admire that. We're done trying to get the Phoenix from you. I, personally, just want to go pass out somewhere. Can we just call a truce or something until we land, at least?"

"We could probably do that...," Locke said uncertainly, looking at the other two as if for approval. "I don't really want to have to kill you two anyway. So, I don't know, why don't I go down into the cabin with you to make sure you don't try anything funny, and you can lay on the couch or something?"

"That'll work fine for us," Roxas said, and Axel silently nodded his agreement. Together, the three of them went back inside the airship. Axel practically fell onto the couch, spreading his legs out in front of him and tilting his head on the back of it. When Roxas settled down beside him, Axel wrapped an arm around his waist and practically pulled him into his lap. The blond didn't even blush at the contact, instead just leaning back into Axel and letting out a long sigh.

"You two are...," Locke started uncomfortably, and Roxas opened his eyes just far enough to glare at him. Locke waved a hand in the air as if he couldn't find the words to complete his question, and then shrugged helplessly.

"There a problem with that?" Axel asked, voice so bland that Roxas winced.

"No, of course not!" Locke protested quickly with a nervous laugh. "It's just, well. You're from the Organization. A lot of people don't believe any of you are even capable of emotion."

"Oh, we sure are," Axel laughed, and Roxas couldn't help but notice that the laugh sounded a little off. Locke didn't, however, and he decided to shrug it off, figuring that it was just part of Axel's exhaustion.

"So why did you need the Phoenix anyway?" Locke asked quietly.

"Just followin' orders," Axel replied simply. Locke gave them a disbelieving look, and Roxas just shrugged at him because it was the truth, at least on his part. "What about you?"

"A few years ago, I took my girlfriend with me while I was hunting for a treasure in a cave near my home," Locke admitted quietly, finally looking away from them to stare blankly at the roulette table. "One of the old bridges was about to collapse, and she decided to push me out of the way. Saved my life. But she was unconscious and a few days later, she woke up and she'd forgotten everything. I left because her father blamed me for everything, and didn't find out until years later that she'd remembered me...right before she died."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Roxas said quietly, and Locke gave him a surprised look before his face relaxed into a soft smile.

"You know, you're not anything like I thought you were going to be," Locke murmured, adjusting his headband nervously when Roxas gave him a questioning look. "It's not just your relationship. When we were travelling together, you were both so...companionable. And helpful. It was like you really did care what happened to me and Celes, saving our lives and everything."

"That's because we did," Roxas said wearily, and then closed his eyes to relax back against Axel. "When Relm was threatened, I didn't do nothing because I didn't care what happened to her. I was just too caught off-guard to do anything, surprised to find out that she was the talented pictomancer, and surprised by what...he was about to do."

"And yet you're the thirteenth...," Locke murmured so quietly Roxas almost didn't hear him. Axel shifted underneath him nervously, and Roxas put a hand on his leg to try to calm him down.

"If you tell anyone who we are," Axel said in the most serious voice Roxas had ever heard him use, "I can't promise that the Organization won't hunt you down. I know you have powerful friends, but we take our privacy seriously. People have been killed for less. And, despite what you might think, I don't want any of you killed."

"Promise not to tell people who we are," Roxas added quietly, dreading what would happen if Sora discovered where and what he was, "and we'll tell the Superior that you used the Phoenix before we could get a chance to take it from you. Or something else that keeps him from knowing that you know the real identities of two members of the Organization."

"How do we know you'll keep your promise?" Celes' voice came from the stairway, and Roxas didn't even turn to look at her. He just held up one hand and called Oathkeeper to him, smiling a little at the light show and feathers that floated to the floor.

"This weapon is called Oathkeeper," he said. "I swear on my blade, and on the life of my brother, that I will do everything I can to keep the Organization from going after you."

"Roxas...," Axel murmured quietly, sounding horribly uncertain, and sighed when Roxas turned to give him a calm, confident smile. Then the redhead turned to Celes and said: "Roxas has given up his life for his brother already. And what Roxas promises, I promise. You have nothing to worry about."

There was a long pause, where Locke and Celes just stared at each other, until finally Celes gave them a tiny, but warm, smile and said: "That's a powerful oath. I swear on my magic that your secret will be safe, unless the Organization comes calling. A promise from one of us, Kefka's defeaters, is a promise from all."

"...And at some point during the night, Locke summoned the Phoenix to raise his girlfriend," Axel concluded his report softly. "From what we understand, she died again shortly after being resurrected...just long enough to give Locke some closure, or some other romantic nonsense like that."

"So even the Phoenix can't return someone to true life," Xemnas said thoughtfully, his eyes distant as he pondered what that meant for them. "Is it possible, then, that even opening Kingdom Hearts will not be enough?"

"Opening the Kingdom is a completely different matter," Vexen pointed out caustically even as he scribbled some notes in a random notebook. "There's also the matter of the Underworld, loathe though I am to admit that Hades has any power. We still haven't discovered what, exactly, happens to us when we die, either."

"Yes, Vexen, we know," Xaldin interrupted, giving the blond man a pointed look and then nodding at Roxas. Roxas pretended not to notice. "We can discuss theories later. What're we going to do now?"

"We'll go back to our original plans," Xemnas concluded simply, and there was a strange gleam in his eyes that made Roxas nervous. "The Phoenix was a long shot to begin with, but it was worth pursuing while the opportunity was before us. If nothing else, it has proven that Roxas is, indeed, a competent member and can be trusted to carry out his missions. We do appreciate the work you've done for us, Roxas." Roxas inclined his head in acknowledgement, but didn't bother to talk. "Axel, I must ask that you keep in contact with the person who gave you the information about the Phoenix. There may yet be another time when he will come in use."

"Sure, no problem!" Axel said cheerfully, grinning cheekily when Saix glared at him for interrupting.

"For now, however, it will probably be best if the two of you retire, as the rest of us have much to discuss regarding the future."

"Thanks, Superior!" Axel said, giving Xemnas a swift salute before turning on his heel and walking out of the room. Roxas nodded and followed on his heels.

"I want a bath," he said once he was sure they were out of earshot. Axel slowed down just enough for Roxas to catch up to him, then wrapped an arm around the smaller man. "A long, hot soak in an actual bathtub."

"We can do that," Axel agreed to the plan with a smirk. "But first we're raiding Demyx' room for bubbles."

* * *

A/N: I have nothing witty and/or interesting to say. Sorry!


	19. Chapter 19: But We've Only Just Begun

A/N: So, in interesting news, I was diagnosed with something a little bit before my last post, and now I'm going back to the doctor to possibly get diagnosed with something else instead. My life, so hard. At least it's been significantly less time than it usually is?

Warnings: GIANT JUMP IN TIME. No seriously you might be confused, so I had to warn you. Other than that, just the usual.

Disclaimer: Pretty much the only thing I own is my concept of the KH universe made into one planet. Um. Go me? (And I only half own that, really. Hm.)

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Nineteen: But We've Only Just Begun_

"Have you heard the news?" Demyx asked excitedly one morning, entering the kitchen while he was still getting dressed. Roxas looked up from his cereal long enough to give the man a shake of the head, and then continued to concentrate on avoiding the marshmallows. "The Conclave, Roxas! They're almost gone!"

"What do you mean, gone?" Axel asked quietly.

"Dead!" Roxas looked up again, raising his eyebrows in surprise, and snorted when he noticed Demyx was so excited he was bouncing from foot to foot. "You know how we thought they were just being reallyyyyy quiet the last few years? They've just been distracted! Some guy's been fighting with them, gaining help and friends along the way, and they just found Oogie Boogie's castle destroyed!"

"Who's been doing this?" he asked tensely, cereal forgotten for the moment. What kind of warrior gained friends while mercilously cutting his enemies down? For some reason, just the idea that this person was making so many friends made him think of Sora. His brother had always been so outgoing and friendly, not like Roxas who people used to only know as 'Sora's twin'. But that had been three years ago, before he'd dropped out of school and run away. Before he'd become the Thirteenth of the Organization, the most mysterious and feared member of the most secretive gang in the Underground.

"Dunno," Demyx admitted with a shrug, and finally sat down at the table. He'd somehow acquired a bowl and spoon, and he snagged the cereal box from Roxas. "There's three people actually. One's some kid they say is around your age, Roxas, with some weird swords, and the other two are a knight and mage from Disney Kingdom. Disney! Can you imagine how cool that must be? It's like walking around with giant talking stuffed animals! I hear one of them doesn't even wear pants!"

"Demyx, that's disgusting," Axel announced, pointing his spoon at his friend. His cereal had also been forgotten in Demyx' babbling, and a few oats dripped off the spoon onto the table without being noticed. "I don't want to think about human-sized goats walking around without pants on, okay? I'm eating!"

"It's not my fault you're so easily squicked out," Demyx said loftily. "And you're losing your cereal, by the way. I'm not cleaning that up for you, you know."

"Oh, shut up," Axel snapped, grabbing a napkin and mopping up his mess. Roxas watched him dully, his mind far away, wondering what the possibility that this mystery boy could be his brother. He hadn't gotten too close to Sora on the internet, like he'd been hoping he would. His natural reticence had caused him to treat Sora the way he'd treat any other stranger on the internet, showing as little emotion as possible, and while he was aware that Sora kept up with his communites and everything, he never really wrote anything with detail in his blogs...

"You okay, Rox?" Axel asked quietly, reaching over and running a hand through Roxas' hair. Roxas smiled at him a little and shrugged. There was really no point in lying to Axel—the man could see right through him, no matter how hard he tried. "What're you thinking?"

"I'll tell you later," Roxas replied just as quietly, poking half-heartedly at his cereal. He wasn't feeling nearly as hungry any more.

"Awww, aren't you two so cute?" Demyx cooed at them, and then yelped as Axel threw the soggy napkin at him. "Hey, hey, can't a guy just admire his friends and their love?"

"Shut _up_, Demyx," Axel demanded with a drawn-out sigh.

"Well, how d'you like that?" Demyx asked crossly, picking up his bowl and starting to walk out of the kitchen. "Here I am, bringing you gossip, and you can't even be civil to me. Well, I know when I'm not wanted! Next time you need something, don't even bother coming to me!"

"Stop being such a drama queen!" Axel yelled as the door slammed shut behind Demyx.

"That's drama _king_!" Demyx shouted through the door in parting, and Axel chuckled lightly before turning back to Roxas, who still hadn't looked up from his cereal.

"...Wanna go see Reno after we eat?" Axel asked, the concern in his voice almost making Roxas smile. Roxas nodded silently, chasing the last oat around his bowl determinedly, and Axel fell into silence beside him.

-l-

"This kid's been causing trouble in the Underground for almost three years and you're just hearing about him?" Reno asked disbelievingly, while Rude stood beside him and shook his head. "What rock have you been sticking your head under?"

"We've been busy," Axel grumbled, half-heartedly leering at Roxas. Roxas just rolled his eyes. "You know what we're like, Reno. Why are you even surprised?"

"Because he hasn't just been causing trouble for the Conclave, Axel, but for the whole Underground!" Reno had started pacing at this point, an out-of-character scowl gracing his face. "That weapon of his, whatever it is, it's been unlocking...things."

"What kind of things?" Axel asked intensely, snagging one of Reno's arms and forcing him to a stop. "What does the weapon look like? Who, exactly, is he traveling with, and who is he? I need this information, Reno!"

"It unlocks everything," Reno sighed, rubbing at an eye with the ball of his hand. "It's mostly been locking up gates, to be honest. There are these supposed hidden pathways, and the kid's been running around blocking them up. I don't know what it is. But, supposedly, whenever he locks one of these gates, that area of the Underground becomes...tamer, I guess. Deaths go down. Nobody knows what's causing it."

"And the kid?" Axel prompted.

Reno shrugged. "Dunno much. He's short, brunette, has either one weapon that can change what it looks like or an amazing amount of weapons, and becomes friends with pretty much everybody but the people he kills. The ones he's always with, though, they're the king of Disney's _personal_ knight and mage."

"But the king's been dead for years, hasn't he?"

"That's what everyone outside of Disney thought," Reno said quietly. "But now there's rumors coming in that he's not, and that he's trying to open up the Bastion. Rumors that this kid, whoever he is, was chosen by the king himself to save the world."

"Do you know his name?" Roxas asked quietly, voice so soft even he wasn't sure he could hear it. But Reno spun on his heel to stare at him, to practically stare through him, and Roxas' breath caught on his throat.

"...No," Reno said eventually. "Those friends he made are making sure his identity doesn't get leaked."

"One more question," Axel said slowly, and Roxas could feel his boyfriend's eyes on him. "Do you have any news as to where he's going next?"

"I'm not sure, but he's headed in the direction of Neverland."

"Okay," Axel said quietly, taking a deep breath. "We'll bring the news to the Superior and see what happens. Thanks, Reno."

"Any time," Reno offered quietly. "And, guys? Whatever you do, be careful. I want you back in one piece."

-l-

"Are you sure you've been given good information?" Xemnas asked thoughtfully. He hadn't looked at them since they'd stepped into the room, instead choosing to look out his window. Roxas had no idea what was so interesting out there.

"It's the same source as always, boss," Axel replied seriously. "You've never doubted what he's had to say before."

"This is a more delicate situation than usual," Xemnas mused quietly. "I've known about this mystery boy of yours since Jafar went down two years ago, but have never been able to get any good information before this. I have discovered that, no matter who I send out to gather information from the boy's friends, they always come back with very little to say. Sometimes, nothing at all. Certainly I've never known where he's going to be before."

"If you've known the Conclave was falling, why didn't you tell us?" Roxas asked quietly. "We just heard about this from Demyx today!"

Xemnas finally turned to look at Roxas, a cold smile playing about his lips. Roxas looked impassively back at him, hiding his clenched fists in his pockets. "There's a reason for everything I do, Thirteen. There's no reason for me to divulge such information to you, as your place in the Organization is primarily to gather information and help destroy our enemies. You will be given what information you need, and no more than that."

Roxas nodded tersely, and had to force down the frustration he was feeling. He hated being kept in the dark, a fact which the entire Organization had to have known since he'd been brought in. If there was one thing he was always searching for more of, it was knowledge, and they'd been keeping it from him for three years. If he hadn't known that the Organization would surely kill him and everyone he cared about, he probably would have left already.

"Now, we must do something about this information you've given me, Eight," Xemnas said slowly, turning back to the window. Axel reached over and rubbed Roxas' back when he did so, shooting over a soothing smile, and Roxas felt himself relaxing slightly despite himself. Okay, so maybe he wouldn't have gone just like that. "Unfortunately, Zexion and Xigbar are indispensible at the moment, so our best members at covert operations will not be able to gather the information we need. This leaves, of course, only one member who may be able to discover anything. Do you think you can concentrate well enough for this mission, Thirteen?"

"Yes," Roxas said, taking a deep breath and allowing himself a triumphant smile. "Of course I can. When do I leave?"

-l-

"If you're looking for adventure," the little boy said seriously, rubbing at a smudge on his cheek and spreading it further, "you have to follow Peter Pan."

"Peter Pan?" Roxas asked warily. It was a name that he was vaguely familiar to him. Half of Neverland, he'd discovered in the short time he'd read up on it before leaving, consisted entirely of treehouses on an island out at sea. The only people who lived in the forest were runaway children, and their leader was always a boy named Peter Pan. Once The Pan (as he was often called) grew up, he was pretty much forced to give up his sword to a successor, and then leave the community. In fact, anybody who hit adulthood was forced to leave, and so the treehouse city had a constantly changing population. A lot of those adults, on the other hand, didn't go very far—they just went to live on one of the two ships that connected the island to the mainland. The first ship, the one Roxas had recently stepped off of, was the one that brought the runaways and tourists to the island. The other one, though...

"Hook kidnapped Tinkerbell!" another boy announced, bouncing in place as he spoke. "And he's got some girl holed up in there too, and the Pan went to help that other guy save her too!"

"Captain James Hook, eh?" Roxas asked unhappily. He knew Hook, of course—he was a member of the Conclave.

"You're not friends with him, are you?" yet another boy, this one a little bit older than the rest, asked. He had a hand on the hilt of his sword, a clear threat to Roxas that the blond easily dismissed. "We don't help pirates!"

"Easy there," Roxas answered placatingly, holding his hands up inoffensively. "I'm an enemy of Hook, you don't have to worry about that. I'm trying to find that other boy, though, the one you said Pan was helping. Where are they?"

"They went to rescue the girls from the pirates, of course," the first boy said in a voice that seemed amazed that he even had to ask. "Rufio can help you get to the ship, if you want. He's the only one willing to when Peter's not around!"

"Why should I help him?" the older boy asked snottily, crossing his arms and giving Roxas a dismissing once-over. "He's just going to get himself killed by one of those smelly pirates and put us all at risk once the Hook finds out we're sneaking him in!"

The boys all around Rufio murmured in agreement, and Roxas heaved a long sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He didn't have time for this. "I can take care of myself," he said quietly, holding a hand in front of him and summoning Oblivion. The boys gasped in a gratifyingly awed way, and he allowed himself a small smile at Rufio's annoyed expression. "And if you don't want to risk it, I can get myself on the ship fine. Just point me in the right direction, okay?"

"Take him, Rufio!" another older boy encouraged, nudging the temporary leader in the side. Roxas noticed that he hadn't taken his eyes off the keyblade. "Before I came here, my mom used to tell me stories of a weapon like that. If you don't take him, Rufio, I will."

"Fine," Rufio said tersely. "Let me get my pack, and we'll get going. But if you fall, Blondie, I'm not coming back for you."

"Same goes to you," Roxas said, and sighed again.

* * *

A/N: So things are going to be moving pretty quickly from here! I know the time jump seemed a bit odd, but there really wasn't much going on in those three years to tell. So, uh, I'm assuming you've all got imaginations to use, right? Right! (I may touch on those three years at a later time, depending on what I decide to do with things.)

To anybody who doesn't recognize, Rufio: I'd like to assure you that this _isn't_ an original character. There was a movie back in 1991 called _Hook_ that was pretty much my favorite movie growing up, so I had to add him into Disney's Neverland. I had pretty specific images of the other Lost Boys I mentioned in mind as I wrote this (all of them based on the ones from _Hook_), so none of them are OC's either! Although they're not important, so it doesn't really matter.

And, uh, if I talk much longer, my notes are going to go on forever, so bye!


	20. Chapter 20: Blood Follows Blood

A/N: LOOK IT HASN'T BEEN A WHOLE MONTH. I am so proud of myself. \o/

Warnings: It's...it's kind of boring? Oh, and violence. Mmm, violence.

Disclaimer: lol I own NOTHING. I don't know Peter Pan, I don't own Rufio, I don't own Roxas...what is the point of my life!

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty: Blood Follows Blood_

"There's the ship," Rufio said quietly, pointing out to sea. The pirate ship, complete with a mermaid on the fore, was anchored not too far from the shore. Roxas wiped at some sweat that was running down the side of his face and nodded. The forest was obnoxiously hot, and they'd had to travel across to the other side of the island to get to the ship. The further they went, the less of the runaways there was—and the more monsters. Thankfully, Rufio was well-versed in fighting them, and Roxas himself had found them, individually, to be startlingly easy. It would have been an easy trek if the things hadn't come at them in swarms. "Let's stop for a breath, okay? I'm not going out to Hook's ship when they can hear my heartbeat."

"Fine with me," Roxas said quietly, pulling off his trenchcoat and sitting on a large root. He noticed Rufio eyeing him, and he raised his eyebrows questioningly. He had to stifle a laugh when the boy blushed and tried to hide it by looking away quickly. "Something wrong?" he asked instead.

"No," Rufio said shortly.

Roxas didn't pressure him, preferring to lean back against the tree and take deep, relaxing breaths. He could feel Rufio's eyes on him again, and he did his best to ignore it, even though the feel of the look was unnerving. It wasn't that he thought Rufio was thinking of how much he hated him, but the look was one he wasn't used to getting from anyone but Axel. Just the thought of his boyfriend made him sigh, wishing Axel had been able to tag along. But Axel had no subtlety, and so he'd been forced to take the two hour trip out to Neverland by himself.

"You nervous?" Rufio asked quietly after a few minutes of silence, moments after taking his eyes from Roxas, and Roxas opened his eyes to look at him. "I mean. You've never dealt with the pirates before..."

"I'm not too nervous," Roxas said stoicly, turning to gaze back at the ship. "I suppose I ought to be, but I'm not planning on engaging them. I'm really only here for information. There's been some unease about the guy your Pan's helping, and I'm here to find out information about him. Unless you'd like to give me some yourself?"

"Peter made me promise not to," Rufio said quietly, and Roxas ignored the feel of the boy's eyes on him yet again. "I don't know if I should even be helping you get any."

"You can leave if you want," Roxas offered. "I think I can handle the rest of this on my own."

"Going on Hook's ship alone is suicide!" Rufio protested, rising to his feet. Roxas finally turned to look at him, curious, and Rufio sighed. "You don't know their watches. Two steps in and the pirates would find you huddling in the corner trying to keep out of view. And Hook's got these...things."

"Things?"

"I don't even know how to describe them. They're like shadows, you know? And they're almost impossible to hit. I haven't been able to touch any of them without magic." Rufio crossed his arms and gave Roxas a serious look. "I'm not letting you go into that without someone who knows what's going on."

"Hey, I was just trying to keep you out of trouble with your leader," Roxas shrugged, affecting an innocent look. He could practically _see_ Rufio melt from it. "I'm happy for the backup, really. I'm not used to going into anything without my partner." Rufio frowned at the mention of a partner, but seemed to shrug it off. Roxas could practically hear the boy convincing himself that partner didn't necessarily mean boyfriend or girlfriend, that it could just mean business partner. For sake of having backup, he decided, with a twinge of guilt, not to correct him.

"...It's fine," Rufio said a little awkwardly, glancing away from Roxas and shrugging. "Anyway, follow me. We've got a boat."

"You have a boat already prepared to sneak onto the ship," Roxas said slowly, shrugging his trenchcoat back on as he followed the boy. "Do you guys do this often?"

"Oh, Hook's always causing trouble," Rufio replied flippantly. "Every so often we have to sneak in and save someone or something or just cause a ruckus to remind them we're still here."

"If you can sneak onto the ship so easily, why don't you just kill Hook?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Kill Hook?" Rufio murmured thoughtfully, sounding as if he'd never even considered the idea before. "Hook was one of us once, a long time ago. One of the first Lost Boys. And we don't ever kill our own."

"But he's your enemy now, right?" Roxas responded logically, putting on enough speed that he was walking beside Rufio instead of trailing behind him. "Where I come from, an enemy is an enemy, no matter what. It's kill or be killed."

"So...you've killed people before?" Rufio glanced over at him quickly, and then back to the ground in front of him.

"I've done my share," Roxas said vaguely, shoving his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders. He didn't like to think about the things he'd done while he was with the Organization—the nightmares, he thought, were punishment enough. "Sometimes you have to."

"I've never killed anybody," the boy admitted quietly.

"Do what you can to keep it that way, then," Roxas said seriously. "Killing stays with you for life. You think you'll get over it, but, trust me, you never will."

Rufio just nodded silently, and they continued the walk in silence. A few minutes later, they came out of the forest again, in a little cove that was probably almost invisible from the ocean. Sitting tied at the edge of a makeshift pier was perhaps the tiniest boat Roxas had ever seen, and sitting in that boat was little more than a pair of oars.

"We have to row out to the ship," Rufio said once they approached the boat, gesturing for Roxas to go in first. Roxas did, stepping gingerly so as not to tilt the boat over, and looked blankly at the boat, uncertain of where to sit. When he felt a nudge at his back, he had to keep himself from jumping, silently reminding himself that it was just Rufio, and stepped forward rather uncertainly. "You haven't been on boats much, have you?"

"Not really," Roxas admitted quietly.

"Okay, I'll just row us both out then," Rufio offered, glaring at Roxas when he opened his mouth to object. "Look, it'll be easier this way than for us to figure out how to row together. I've got it. Now sit down."

Roxas shrugged, figuring he shouldn't wear himself out before he even encountered the pirates, and slowly lowered himself to a seated position in the boat. Rufio followed his lead after untying the boat, grabbing onto the oars and slowly pushing them away from the shore. Roxas didn't bother trying to talk to him, figuring that the boy needed all the air he could get to row, and instead tried to enjoy the scenery. The water, he noticed, was an amazing clear blue, and he could see right through to the bottom in the shallows. He was rather amazed at all the different shells he could see sitting in the sand, not to mention the schools of tiny fish darting back and forth.

He was, however, less than impressed with the bugs.

Unfortunately, it took them a decent amount of time to row out to the ship, and Roxas found his attention span wavering. His mind drifted to Axel, wondering what his boyfriend would have to say about this, and he silently decided that Axel would never know about it. Rufio, though talented, would hardly be able to withstand the combination of Axel's chakrams and very powerful fire magic, and he didn't want to have the boy's death on his conscious along with all the others.

But he snapped back to attention when he felt their tiny boat bumping gently up against the ship. When he looked up, he was surprised to find that getting onto the ship was going to be a lot easier than anyone could have expected, and he could practically feel Rufio smirking at him. Without saying anything, Rufio grabbed onto whatever he could and started climbing up the side of the ship. And Roxas (after a brief moment arguing with the boat and his stomach) followed close after, making sure he only grabbed what Rufio grabbed. When he tumbled over the top, Rufio quickly pulled him to the side, and gestured for silence.

Roxas nodded and looked around the ship, trying to get his bearings, and found himself wishing that he'd known something like this was going to happen so he would have any idea of anything that was going on. He'd barely gotten a chance to eye a few oddities, when Rufio tugged on his arm and lead him around the place. Rufio had obviously done this plenty of times before, dodging from the gazes of the pirates that were clearly on guard with almost suspicious ease, and it wasn't long before they'd managed to find the stairs and head down into the ship itself.

"What now?" Roxas asked quietly, hoping it was actually okay for him to talk.

"We've got to get as deep into the ship as possible," Rufio whispered in answer, creeping along, and Roxas decided it was high time to pull his hood over his face. Rufio gave him a curious look as he did this, but shrugged it off and just continued walking. "The first thing we need to do is rescue the girls down there. Well, at any rate, that's the first thing Peter and the guy you're trying to find would do."

"Right," Roxas agreed faintly, and continued following Rufio through the ship that he was clearly quite familiar with. They made it to what must have been the holding cells with ease, not running into anything on the way, but whoever was down there had already left. Rufio seemed pleased with this fact, and lead Roxas quietly through the ship again, pulling himself through some broken grating.

"The captain's room is where any action will be," Rufio said quietly. He seemed less concerned with being unseen now, trekking through the ship as if he was going on a stroll to his friend's treehouse.

"Woah," Rufio gasped in surprise when they entered the captain's room to see a shadowy blob in the middle of the floor. Roxas walked over to inspect it, summoning Oblivion to poke at it with no small amount of curiosity, and paid no mind to Rufio when he rushed out of the captain's room through the other door. The thing, whatever it had once been, was clearly dead, and seemed almost liquid in the way it moved around and dripped from the blade. But there seemed to be something off about it, and he was just about to kneel down to mess with it up close when he heard the scream.

"Rufio!" the unknown voice yelled again, and Roxas swore he felt his heart come to a complete stop. A second later, he was bolting out of the room without even thinking, blindly leaping over the prone forms of several men who were quite obviously pirates, and then finding himself skidding to a halt when he almost jumped right over Rufio. Hook, he saw, was a slight distance away, facing down a blond boy dressed all in green that was obviously the current Pan, and paying no attention to the dying boy behind him.

"Roxas," the boy whispered painfully, weakly reaching out to him. Roxas' heart twisted at the sight—in his entire time in the Underground, he'd never had to watch anybody he cared about die. "Rox—"

"Stop talking," Roxas snapped, digging into his trenchcoat in a panic.

"Please," Rufio insisted, latching onto him with a bloody hand. "I wanted to tell you—"

"You're not going to die!" Roxas snapped at him, finally finding the familiar shape of a Potion in his pocket and pulling it out. With one hand, he shifted Rufio the best he could while trying to ignoring the boy's pained noises, and, after pushing his hood back far enough it wouldn't get in his way, used his teeth to open the bottle. "And I know about your crush anyway. Drink this!"

"What...?"

"Just drink it!"

With a soft sigh, Rufio finally did as he was told, taking sips that Roxas felt were entirely too tiny. When he finally finished the Potion, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, Roxas began digging around in search of another Potion. He pulled that one out too, opened the bottle, and was about to pretty much start pouring it into the boy's mouth when a voice cut into his focus—

"Well, well, if it isn't Number Thirteen," Captain Hook said slimily (which was, of course, his natural tone of voice). "What a fun night this has been. That other wretched boy may have gotten away, but Maleficent will take care of him soon enough. And what does that matter when I've got three little lost boys in my own clutches at last?"

"Hook," Roxas said coldly, pulling his hood comfortably over his eyes so the pirate wouldn't be able to see his face. He put the Potion to Rufio's lips, tilting it and pouring a tiny amount of liquid into the boy's mouth, and then watched in satisfaction as Rufio finally lifted a hand to hold the bottle for himself. He gently disengaged himself from the boy despite the death grip Rufio was trying to keep on Roxas' coat, and turned slowly to face the taller man. He could see Peter Pan being held by a couple of pirates a short distance away, his tell-tale sword lying discarded on the floor a distance away, and then he turned his gaze back and silently summoned both Oblivion and Oathkeeper. "Consider this a present from the Organization: I'm not going to make you suffer before you die."

* * *

A/N: At the end of this chapter, the only response my beta had was "Roxas is a badass." Thoughts? XD

I would also like to mention that this chapter made my little fangirl heart glee. And next chapter? MORE GLEE.


	21. Chapter 21: Break Your Heart

A/N: I just realized that, as of the _last_ chapter, this story is the longest thing I've ever written (in both chapter count and word count). Also it's over one NaNoWriMo long. I am utterly astounded that I ever made it this far, let alone that I'm continuing to write it. I AM FULL OF GLEE.

In other news, happy Axel/Roxas day! Although this is a terrible chapter to post today. Oh well.

Warnings: VIOLENCE. I LOVE VIOLENCE. Um, character death? And smoochin'. (P.S. I know nothing about ships. Please forgive me.)

Disclaimer: lol i own nothing ;_;

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-One: Break Your Heart_

Roxas didn't even give Hook a chance to respond before he leapt at the man, and couldn't resist the smirk as the captain's eyes widened in both surprise and fear. To Roxas' annoyance, the man had enough sense to dodge out of the way, and only parried when he couldn't dodge fast enough. Fortunately, though, Roxas was angry—certainly angrier than he would have expected to be at the near-death of someone he barely knew. Maybe it was just that Rufio was the first person he'd made friends with on his own the last three years, the first person to treat him as something other than one of the most dangerous men in the world or a naïve kid wandering where he shouldn't be. Either way, the fact that Hook had almost killed Rufio was something he was taking as a personal affront, and he didn't give the man the smallest amount of ground until he had almost fallen off the side of the ship.

"What's this, Thirteen?" the man asked, a smile twitching up under his mustache. "You're not taking this thing _personally_, are you?"

Roxas didn't say anything, just taking a step further and feeling a sadistic smile spread across his face as Hook flinched and nearly slipped over the edge.

"My boy, do you really think this is going to solve anything?" Hook asked, his nervous smile making him look demented. "Kill me, and what happens to Neverland? The Lost Boys need an enemy to fight! Who's going to provide that when I'm gone, eh?"

"I'm sure someone will step up," Roxas said coldly. "And they'll probably be better at it than you were, judging by how easily I snuck onto and around your ship. I don't think anyone will miss you, James."

"That's Captain Hook, boy!" the pirate snarled, lashing out with his sword. Roxas dodged it easily, a cold laugh bubbling out—the man was an amateur at best. Roxas responded with a final swing of Oblivion, stopping just short of slamming the weapon into Hook's throat, and watched as Hook obligingly dropped his own sword. Roxas gestured with Oathkeeper, and the man slowly stepped back, closer to the side, and almost lost his footing as something slammed into the side of the ship. A distant ticking noise could be heard, and Hook bared his teeth.

"That damn crocodile," he muttered just loudly enough that Roxas could hear him, though it was obvious he hadn't meant to be heard. Roxas stared at him silently, his mind going back to the little he knew about Hook. Something was niggling at the back of his head, a little side-note about how he had lost his hand...

"Oh," he said softly, "a friend's dropped by to see you, hasn't he?" Hook glanced at him sharply, and when Roxas moved forward, he didn't step back this time. "Maybe I was wrong about you suffering." And he leapt forward, Hook trying to dodge out of the way without falling from the ship, but the man didn't move fast enough and a keyblade slammed into his stomach, cutting it wide open. The pirate doubled over in front of him, breathing harshly and clutching at his wound.. Roxas let his keyblades fall away, smiling in triumph, and grabbed hold of the front of Hook's shirt to pull him over to the side. He peered over it curiously, the ticking noise growing louder, and saw the crocodile thrashing in the water. He couldn't remember why the crocodile made the strange ticking noise, let alone why it was so obsessed with eating Hook, but he wasn't going to question that now when it was so useful. The man struggled weakly as Roxas dragged him, but he'd already lost a fair amount of blood, so it was easy enough for Roxas to give him the last final shove over the edge.

He winced at Hook's screams, the sound of the crocodile's jaw snapping shut, the sound of Hook's feeble splashes, but he did his best to ignore it and walked back in the direction of Pan's sword. The two pirates that were holding on to Pan were still there, looking horrified at what had just happened to their leader, and ran away as if under one mind when Roxas walked over to them with the golden sword held loosely in his hand.

"Your sword," he said softly to Pan, holding the sword out hilt-first towards him. Pan stared at him warily, obviously not sure if he trusted Roxas, but he reached out and took it anyway, then silently sheathed it. The boy then brushed past Roxas without a word, heading over to Rufio to check up on him. Roxas stayed where he was, arms crossed, and waited to see what was going to happen.

"Ro—" Rufio started calling over to him after a few moments, and Roxas' head snapped up in alarm.

"Don't call me that now," he said sharply, sighing as Rufio winced, and then he walked over to the boy. "We should get off this ship before some of the pirates grow a half brain between them. I don't want to be here while they're recovering."

"If I'd known Hook was going to die tonight, I'd have invited the Lost Boys along," Pan said grumpily, glaring at Roxas. "We could have taken the rest of the pirates easily."

"You still have time for that," Roxas said softly. "It'll be a while before they decide what to do, believe me. But for now, I need to get off this island and report back."

"We should leave you to them!" Pan snarled, hands on his hips and legs spread in the classic Peter Pan pose. "How do we know you won't do anything to us?"

"Attacking you would be counter-productive," Roxas responded dryly. "I'm tired, and it's hard to swim weighed down with this jacket on. Believe me, I've had to try before. Besides, I saved Rufio's life, didn't I?"

"He did," Rufio agreed quietly. Roxas turned to face him, and was surprised to see the boy blush again. Clearly, what he'd just done hadn't effected the boy's crush on him in the slightest. In fact, when he lifted his head again, he could see a fair amount of awe in the boy's eyes. "Look, Peter, can we just get him back to the island and through the forest?"

"...Fine," Peter said grudgingly, giving Rufio a curious look, and then turned to lead them to one of the small rowboats on the side of the ship. With Rufio's help, he got it loose, and gestured for Roxas to get in. Roxas did as asked, sitting down away from the oars, and tensed as the boat was lowered, swinging precariously, by the other two. When it finally hit the water, Rufio and Pan both jumped down—Rufio landed lightly mid-boat, and Pan seemed to float down somehow. Seconds later, a bright light zoomed down and settled itself on Pan's shoulder. Roxas had the feeling that, whatever it was, it was glaring at him.

"Hey, Tink," Rufio said quietly. The light made a strange noise at him, and Rufio scowled, then settled himself down by one of the oars. Pan took the other one, and they rowed over to the shore in silence. They didn't even bother hiding in the cove this time, getting up as close to the shore as they could before jumping out and pulling the boat back up on the sand. Roxas decided to get out and help them this time, ignoring the indecipherable looks Pan was sending at him.

The three of them made the slow trek back through the forest, but the tenseness didn't fade. Roxas tried to keep his distance from Pan and Rufio, watching them curiously as they talked in low voices between battles. He could tell they were arguing about something, probably him, and they were completely focused on the conversation. After a few minutes of walking, Roxas noticed that the sounds of the forest had died down, that the rustling of creatures in the trees and underbrush had faded, and it seemed to be getting darker. The other two didn't notice a thing, and Roxas tensed up, looking around in the hopes of finding out what was scaring everything away from them. He caught sight of something a distance into the forest away from them, some man-shaped creature that he couldn't quite make out inching closer to his two companions.

"Look out!" Roxas yelled when it suddenly leapt towards Pan and, seeing that the boy wasn't going to get out of the way in time, he called his keyblades to him before running forward and knocking Pan out of the way. Something sliced past his hood, forcing it back slightly in the breeze, and Roxas lifted Oblivion automatically to block the rebound swing.

"What the heck is that?" Pan yelped from somewhere behind him. Roxas jumped away from the creature uncertainly, eyeing it with some trepidation, and found himself without an answer. It seemed to be made of the same liquidy substance as whatever they'd found in Hook's cabin before, but this time it was alive.

"It's one of those things from the ship!" Rufio snarled, backing away from them and clearly stopping to call up some magic.

"...A Heartless," Pan said quietly, backing away as well. Roxas glanced at him curiously, and then turned his attention back to the creature. He'd never seen anything more profoundly disturbing in his life. If you just glanced at it, the thing was actually kind of cute—it looked kind of like a kid wearing a pirate outfit and carrying a fake sword as big as he was. But if you looked closer you saw that what appeared to be a bandana covering his hair and an eyepatch was actually the top half of its head, and then it had a wide split across the 'face', and there was a pair of little glowing lights inside that had to be its eyes, as they seemed somehow fixated on Roxas' weapon.

"What the hell's a Heartless?" Rufio asked, voice high with panic.

"A heart," Roxas said quietly, "that's lost its body and soul. If one of these things gets you, Rufio, you'll never be the same."

"Yeah, because I'll be dead," Rufio snapped.

Roxas shook his head, spinning Oathkeeper in his hand and watching as the Heartless' eyes followed the move. "No. It's worse than that." He leapt at the Heartless, swiping both of his keyblades down at it and smiling when it leapt almost straight into them. He didn't know what meaning the keyblades held for it, but he had the feeling that the creatures were mindlessly attracted to it. His keyblades went straight through the Heartless, and he could hear Rufio's gasp of surprise as it melted into a puddle of the same interesting stuff he'd seen on the ship. "You'll turn into one of these. Mindless. Driven only for the need to steal others' hearts and create more of you, never able to recombine with your soul..."

"What happens to your soul?" Rufio asked, walked over and standing beside Roxas.

"Depends on how strong you are." Roxas turned to Rufio, keeping his face blank because he knew his hood had slid back far enough for the other to see his face again. "Most of the time, that part of you is dead and goes to the Underworld without any real form. But if you're strong enough, it twists into another mindless creature, much like the Heartless. And the most strong, they turn into creatures that look like humans, very similar to who their whole self was, but...darker. Sometimes emotionless, sometimes just the extreme opposite, and sometimes just plain evil."

"And I know where to find some of these souls," Pan cut in, walking over to them, and Roxas reflexively tugged his hood forward again to hide his face. The green-clad boy gave him an unreadable look, and then turned and started walking off. "Let's just get home, okay?"

They moved through the rest of the forest quickly after that, walking in complete silence with their guards up. When they finally made it through, Roxas nodded at them and moved to get back to the ferry that would take him to the mainland.

"Thirteen," Pan said quite suddenly as Roxas made to leave, and Roxas didn't turn to look at him when he stopped moving. "You can't follow him where he's going. There's a hole in some place called Kingdom Hearts, and he's going to close it so the Heartless can't escape any more."

"Where's this hole at?" Roxas asked, half-formed thoughts of rushing off to find it himself forming in his head.

"He wouldn't tell me where it is," Pan answered so guilelessly that Roxas knew he was telling the truth. Which was fair enough—the guy probably didn't want someone else following around to hold him up. Roxas knew he certainly wouldn't. Still, he decided to keep this information a secret from the rest of the Organization for now. It'd be nice to be the one withholding information for once.

"Thanks," Roxas said, making to leave again, but being interrupted by Rufio. He held back a sigh. "Yeah?" he asked instead.

"Just one thing," Rufio said quietly, his voice shaking a little. "How is it that you were so...human to me before? You seemed so normal, like you actually cared about us. But everyone knows that the Thirteenth is callous to the point of cruelty and absolutely passionless."

There was a tense pause as Roxas thought the question over. He knew he couldn't give Rufio a real answer, not only because that was entirely too personal for Roxas to tell him, but also because he wasn't entirely sure of the answer himself. But, and here he felt himself grinning, he could definitely give the boy a parting gift.

"They're right about me being callous," Roxas said airily, spinning around and moving the few quick steps back to where Rufio was standing. "And cruel, I suppose is often true enough." He grabbed the front of Rufio's shirt, pulling him down to eye-level, and continued in a much lower voice, practically purring out his next words. "But passionless?" and kissed him.

Rufio froze for a long moment, and Roxas could see his eyes widening in surprise, and then he was whimpering and clutching at Roxas' waist, trying to pull himself closer. Roxas let him, sliding the hand that had been clutching the boy's shirt into his hair and sticking his fingers into the edge of the boy's pants to pull him closer. Rufio wrapped both arms around Roxas, and, despite their position, Roxas utterly dominated the kiss, enticing nearly intoxicating moans and whimpers from the taller boy. For a long, glorious moment, Roxas nearly forgot he wasn't kissing Axel, as Rufio's hands slipped further down his back and Roxas arched into him, hand tugging at Rufio's hair, and then the sound of the water crashing against the shore slipped into Roxas' consciousness, and he pulled away suddenly and completely, smiling as the other boy tried to follow his movement and was left panting and dazed.

"But passionless?" he asked again, licking his lips and swearing that Axel would absolutely _never_ hear about this on pain of his own death. "I don't think so."

Then he turned back around, walking quickly into the depths of the boat taking him away from Neverland, and didn't look back.

* * *

A/N: Roxas/Rufio: best crack pairing EVER. (Has anybody else noticed how much I seem to love hyphens? There are just so many of them in this chapter!)


	22. Chapter 22: Where it Hurts the Most

A/N: Gah, I keep forgetting to put this up! I have been horrendously busy (doctors, work, pre-NaNoWriMo planning and meeting, cooking new foods, etc.), and never seem to have the ten minutes needed to post this...even when I put it in my plans. -_-

On a side-note, I've officially switched this story over to 's version of Rated R. This is what I get for writing during NaNoWrimo. Also, if the sex stuff isn't that good, um, this is my first time writing it? :D

Warnings: THE INTERNET IS FOR PORN. Uh, I mean, um...okay, yeah. The internet is for porn. Quite a bit of bad language in this one, actually. Lots and lots of italics, holy crap. And did I mention porn?

Disclaimer: I own approximately nothing! This makes me very sad.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Two: Where it Hurts the Most_

"You're holding something back, Roxas," Axel said darkly. Roxas looked at him out of the corner of his eye, shoving his hands into his pockets, and let out a long sigh. They were technically out to get more firepower from _Men on Fire_ for a mission that Xemnas was sending Zexion and Demyx on later that night, but were taking their time doing so. So far they'd been wandering around aimlessly for about an hour, mostly window shopping, and it had all been done in an uncertain silence. Roxas had been wondering about Axel's reticence, but now he realized he shouldn't have been. He'd never had an easy time lying to his boyfriend.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, but didn't offer any information. They walked for a few more minutes before Axel came to a sudden stop, falling gracelessly onto a bench and staring at him. Roxas stopped as well, hovering uncertainly by Axel's knees, and stared blankly at the people walking by.

"And whatever it is, it's bothering you." Axel's voice was emotionless, and when Roxas finally turned to look at him, he could see that the man's face was completely blank. He shivered a little, sighed again, and then settled himself next to Axel, leaning forward with his face buried in his hands. There was no way he was going to tell Axel about Rufio, even though the kiss hadn't meant anything. He wasn't sure if that was suicide or murder. And what he'd learned about the mysterious killer of the Conclave wasn't enough to be bothering him this much. But he supposed that was at least information.

"When I was about to leave, Peter Pan told me where our mysterious friend was headed," he said slowly, voice muffled by his hands. "Not any specifics, but he said he was going to close a hole in Kingdom Hearts so the Heartless can't get out any more. I don't...see any reason for Xemnas to know this. For anyone to know this. There's nothing we can do about it anyway."

"That's not everything," Axel said tersely when Roxas fell into silence. Biting his lip, Roxas made a quick decision.

"It's just...when I was there, one of the Lost Boys had to guide me to the pirate ship," he admitted slowly. "And I...he was...attracted to me." He made the mistake of looking up at Axel at this point, seeing the hurt that was breaking through his blank mask, and felt as if something was squeezing his heart into pulp. He was such an idiot, _why_ did he insist on doing this? "I didn't cheat on you," he insisted, because he _hadn't_, he'd just been proving a point, "please believe me. It bothered me the entire time and, well, I found him sort of attractive too, but Axel, I—"

He was cut off by Axel's lips suddenly pressing against his own, the taller man pulling him onto his lap and into a demanding, possessive kiss. Roxas gasped into it, hands balled into the front of Axel's shirt, and then put aside the fact that they were in a public place to force himself even closer. He heard himself making whimpers so similar to Rufio's own that he almost laughed, but that was cut off by a moan when Axel flipped them over so Roxas was pressed uncomfortably into the bench, but he hardly noticed because Axel was pressing into him _just so_...

Axel pulled away suddenly, and Roxas gasped, arms shooting out to grab hold of Axel and pull him back down, but the man wouldn't move, and they stayed locked in that position for a few long, breathless moments.

"You're mine," Axel snarled, his eyes burning, and Roxas noticed that the Phoenix-fire pendant he'd given the man had slipped out from underneath his shirt, flames flickering as if they were agitated as well. Roxas tried to sit up, but the redhead put his hands on his shoulders and held him down. "Don't you ever fucking forget that, Roxas. I swear I will goddamn kill anybody who tries to take you from me."

Roxas opened his mouth to try to say something, he wasn't even sure what, but found his voice caught in his throat and he just nodded instead. When Axel moved his hands off Roxas' shoulders, Roxas shot forward, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders and burying his face in the man's neck. Axel returned the hug firmly, and Roxas shivered at the possessiveness he felt even in that.

"Axel," he said quietly, pulling away and looking the man straight in the eyes. "I love you. I really do. You don't have to worry about anyone stealing me away, because I won't ever let you go. You hear that? No matter what happens..."

Axel smiled at him, the anger and jealousy still not entirely leaving his eyes, but pulled Roxas into a much gentler kiss. "I love you too," he said finally. "Let's go get those fireworks, alright?"

xxxxxxxxx

"I'm never going to unsee this," Axel said in a horrified stage-whisper as they entered the store.

"I think it's kind of hot," Roxas said with a shrug, smiling at Axel when the taller man turned a disbelieving gaze on him. "What? Reno looks an awful lot like you!"

Axel just shook his head, and Roxas returned to, well, admiring the view before him. Reno was laying on top of one of the enclosed fireworks displays, his shirt nearly torn open, and one of Rude's hands was holding Reno's wrists together and against the glass so the redhead couldn't move as Rude kissed him with a passion that surprised Roxas. The bald man's other hand was far lower, slowly sliding up and down Reno's prick, and Roxas was rather amused to notice that even that looked nearly the same size as Axel's. As he watched, Rude pulled away from Reno's mouth, kissing his way down Reno's throat as Reno made a low keening noise, and then Roxas finally looked away, blushing as he realized that he was getting _really_ turned on.

"Roxas!" Axel hissed, trying to tug him back out of the store. Roxas looked up at him, smiling shakily, and then his gaze turned unavoidably back to Reno and Rude. Rude had let go of Reno's arms now, clearly because he was no longer able to reach that high, as his nose was now buried in Reno's pubic hair. "Roxas!" Axel hissed again, and Roxas was yanked backwards and then practically dragged into the alleyway beside the store. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry!" Roxas yelped, his voice higher than he'd expected, and he took a couple calming breaths before allowing himself to speak again. "I swear, Axel, he looks so goddamn similar to you and he makes the same damn noises—"

Axel shoved him up against the wall harshly, giving him a short, brutal kiss, and then smiled predatorily down at him. "So what you're telling me," he purred, "is that you want me, right?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied breathily, wrapping his legs around Axel's waist when the man easily lifted him up. He buried his hands in Axel's hair, pulling him back into another brief kiss as his pants were quickly undone and Axel slid his hand inside teasingly. Roxas pressed up into the grip, throwing his head back against the wall and not even feeling the pain.

"Open your eyes," Axel demanded, and Roxas complied, whimpering at the searing look Axel was giving him. "Tonight," he promised slowly, "I'm going to fuck you until you scream." Then he kissed Roxas again, cutting off whatever sound Roxas didn't even know he was going to make, and Roxas swore he saw stars as he came messily into Axel's hand.

Roxas panted against Axel's lips for a long moment, and then he felt himself being lowered to the ground and he just slumped against the wall, his legs too shaky to hold him up. One of Axel's hands disappeared for a moment, and Roxas could hear the sound of his clothing rustling, and then he was being swiftly cleaned up and tucked back in. When he could focus again, he opened his eyes to find Axel thoroughly licking his fingers off, and he grinned. Axel grinned back at him and undid his own pants, and Roxas didn't even think before he dropped to his knees and practically swallowed Axel whole. Axel gasped, and Roxas could feel the man bending forwad to brace himself against the wall, and then he focused intently on giving Axel the best blowjob the man had probably ever gotten. It wasn't long before Axel made the same keening noise Reno had earlier, and then he thrusted forward once, as if he couldn't control it, and then he was cumming and Roxas swallowed it greedily.

"Okay," Axel said once Roxas had done his pants back up and stood, then kissed Roxas and made a content sort of noise into it. "I'm starting to think you should make me jealous more often, because that was the fucking best alley sex we've ever had."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed, unable to think of anything else to say, and then pulled away slightly as something occurred to him. "And, uh, this is alley sex we're having next to Reno's shop. We were supposed to be doing something, weren't we?"

"...Oh yeah," Axel said thoughtfully, and Roxas knew that he'd really forgotten what they were out of the mansion for to begin with. "Well, then, to the fireworks! And then we're delivering them to Xemnas, and _then_ we're locking ourselves in my bedroom and not coming out for a week."

Roxas laughed and reached up for another lingering kiss, and then pulled away from Axel and made his way out of the alley. He could feel Axel's eyes on him for a long moment, and then the man caught up to him and wrapped an arm comfortably around Roxas' waist. They entered the shop again together, and Roxas grinned as a decidedly rumpled Reno turned to greet them.

"Is it safe to look?" Axel asked dramatically, covering his eyes with his free arm, and Roxas snickered as Reno actually blushed. That was something he'd never seen before. "I have seen more today than I ever wanted to see of you, Reno!"

"You're such a baby, Axel," Reno scoffed, stepping forward and poking Axel in the stomach. Axel allowed his arm to drop, and then grinned at his 'brother' unrepentingly. "Anyway, I'm sure Roxas enjoyed the view, didn't you?" he continued, leering at Roxas, and Roxas couldn't hold off the blush. Reno's eyes widened for a brief moment in surprise, and then he threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Only because you and Axel look so damn much alike," Roxas said grumpily, crossing his arms and scowling. "And, just so you know, you make the same noises, and even your di—"

"Okay, okay, enough!" Reno yelped, slapping his hands over his ears. "I get the idea. So, uh, down to business, okay? Except, well, would you like to wash your hands first? Because, if, you know, I'd rather not have those germs spread on my merchandise, okay?"

"Nah, we're just here for our usual," Axel said, waving a hand in the air beside his ear. "We wouldn't want to keep you and Rude from scaring off the few customers you guys manage to get besides us."

"I'll have you know that some people would be willing to _pay _to see the two of us doing that," Reno responded haughtily, and then nodded towards the backroom. "Rude'll get you your stuff today. It's my turn to actually watch the shop."

"So you mean you have to do actual work?" Axel asked, affecting a surprised look, and laughed when Reno stuck his tongue out at him. "Gosh, this is just awful. First you've exposed yourself to your little brother and his impressionable boyfriend, and now you're being forced to actually do something for a living! You must be having a _terrible_ day!"

"Impressionable my ass," Reno snorted, giving Axel a shove in the right direction. "Horny, maybe, that might be accurate. Now go get your shit. I know Xemnas isn't going to be happy with being kept waiting."

"Yeah, yeah," Axel grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and sauntering his way through the store. Roxas trailed after him, a small smile playing about his lips, and greeted Rude with a perfunctory nod as the bald man looked up at them from the desk he was sitting at. He held up a finger for them to wait in silence for a moment, turned back to the page he'd been reading long enough to scribble a signature at the bottom of it, and then stood to greet them.

"Getting your usual?" he asked quietly, already walking over to the explosives. He didn't even wait for Axel to say anything before he started shoving things in a bag.

"So I see you aren't as shy as I thought you were," Axel said conversationally. Rude glanced at him, face reddening in a blush that was hard to see with his dark skin, and rubbed nervously at his mouth. "I mean, of all things I would never expect to walk into..."

"He was begging for it," Rude said darkly, turning to thrust the bag out at Axel. "Literally." Axel snickered as he switched a bag of munny with the bag of explosives, and Roxas could practically see him thinking of ways to tease Reno later. Roxas chuckled a little himself, trying not to think of exactly what Axel would say to the other redhead. A part of his brain was trying to imagine Axel begging _him_ for a blowjob, but he determinedly tried put it from his mind. He really didn't think having sex in public again was a great idea.

"All right, let's get the goodies delivered," Axel's voice cut into Roxas' thoughts just as they were really starting to wander, and Roxas couldn't keep himself from jumping in surprise. Axel didn't seem to notice, but threw an arm over Roxas' shoulders and started leading him out of the store.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Reno called after them, briefly turning his attention away from the customer he'd been helping.

"Is there actually anything you won't do?" Axel called back, turning around to give the young-looking girl that was leaning against one of the displays a mischievous grin. "Seriously, kid, I wouldn't be touching that display if I were you. You won't _believe_ the things that go on in this store."

The girl gave him a confused look, turned to eye Reno uncertainly, and then yelped and jumped away from the display, holding her hand away from her body as if it had suddenly exploded.

"Stop scaring my customers, jackass!" Reno yelled, his face bright red, and threw one of the fireworks at Axel. Axel dodged it and leapt through the doorway, Roxas following with an apologetic smile directed at the girl.

"I can't take you anywhere, can I?" Roxas asked amusedly, giving Axel a mock glare. Axel just grinned at him. "I mean, really, you're ju—OOF!" He was nearly knocked over as Axel suddenly fell towards him, the man's eyes wide in surprise. He turned to yell at the boy who had run past like Heartless were on his heels—and froze.

"Shit, Roxas, sorry...," Axel was saying, but Roxas hardly noticed as the boy's looks filtered into his mind: silver hair, yellow tanktop, bright blue pants...

"Riku," he whispered to himself disbelievingly and, ignoring Axel's yells for him to stop, he took off running after one of the three people he least wanted to ever see in the Underground.

* * *

A/N: In the words of my beta: DUN DUN DUNNNNNN.


	23. Chapter 23: The Lies I Weave

A/N: Oh god, I kept forgetting to put this up. I am so sorry. Between going work, the dentist, planning for NaNoWriMo, and my excitement about Jon Stewart's rally, I just had no time to even think about the story, let alone post a chapter. Hooray for remembering at the last minute!

Warnings: Um. The usual. And a spot of random!

Disclaimer: Squarsoft and Disney own all rights to everything ever (at least everything ever that has to do with this story)!

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Three: The Lies I Weave_

Roxas could feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest as he ran after who he knew must be Riku, but refused to slow down. The man had been leading him on a wild chase through the crowds in the Underground, though he was undoubtedly unaware of just who was following him—Roxas was strangely adept at keeping from being seen, no matter what speed he was following someone at, and had automatically flipped up the extra-large hood on the hoodie he was wearing as he ran.

He smiled grimly as Riku ducked into an alleyway that Roxas knew to be a dead-end, and was about to run in after him when Axel finally caught up to him, grabbing his arm and forcing him to a stop. Roxas spun toward him, trying to rip his arm out of his boyfriend's grip, but Axel held on too tightly.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Axel asked, giving him a little shake. Roxas glared at him, too winded to properly speak, and tried to pull away again. "Roxas, seriously, what's going on? Why'd you chase that guy?"

"Let me go," Roxas snapped, refusing to answer the question. Axel just raised both his eyebrows at him, letting the bag of explosives slip onto his wrist before grabbing Roxas with his other hand as well. "That was my brother's best friend," he explained shortly. "Where one of them is, the other follows! Let me the fuck go!"

Axel gave him a long look before doing as requested, and then both of them stepped into the alley together. It was utterly abandoned.

"Guess he got away," Axel said softly. Roxas glared at him again, seething, and stomped away from his boyfriend pointedly. "Listen, Rox, it was probably just someone that looked like the guy."

"How many people with silver hair are there?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes. "Let alone people who regularly wear bright yellow? He even ran like Riku did! I know it was him!"

"It's been three years," Axel said gently, trying to place a hand on Roxas shoulder, and sighed when the shorter man shrugged it off. "Look, I know you're still concerned about your brother after he disappeared off of the internet, but maybe he's just been busy, you know? Maybe he lost interest. Why does it have to be that he's suddenly wandering around the Underground when he has no reason to be here?"

Kicking at a loose rock in the street sullenly, Roxas shrugged. He really couldn't explain his certainty regarding this to himself, let alone to Axel, but he didn't want to admit that. But somehow he knew that it'd been Riku he was chasing, and he knew Sora was in trouble, and he decided that he was going to have to figure everything out...whether Axel was going to help him or not.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, giving the rock a particularly vicious kick and watching as it clattered across the street. "Let's just get home and throw those bombs at Xemnas, okay? And get something to eat before we lock ourselves away...I have this sudden craving for spaghetti."

xxxx-xxxx

"Where're you going?" Axel asked hours later, when Roxas quietly slid out of bed and began to get dressed. Roxas turned back to his boyfriend, giving him a half-smile.

"Mission," he said softly. He'd purposely disappeared for a half an hour earlier in the day, after they'd eaten, so that this would be accepted by Axel. He tried not to hold his breath as Axel stared silently at him from the bed, hoping that the man would accept the answer without question, and tried to figure out where Axel had thrown his shirt earlier.

"Nice of you to let me know at the last minute," Axel eventually said, his voice entirely too bland, and Roxas threw a sock at him. Undeterred, Axel calmly continued: "I mean, it's not as if I had any reason to want to know this earlier or anything!"

"Oh shut up," Roxas laughed, shrugging on his trenchcoat even though he still hadn't found his pants. "If you hadn't decided to jump me as soon as I entered the room, I might have had a chance to mention something!"

"Details!" Axel responded haughtily. Roxas finally found his pants at the foot of the bed, piled on top of the boots he kept there for emergency late-night missions, and he quickly pulled everything on. He was leaving later than he had wanted to, but since it wasn't a real mission, he supposed that was okay.

"I probably won't be back until sunrise," Roxas said quietly, noting the time. "Got a bit of a drive to where I need to be." He walked around to Axel's side of the bed, leaning over the man to give him a long kiss, and then another when Axel pulled him back down. "Don't wait up."

"Good luck," Axel offered in parting, and then Roxas quietly slipped out of the room.

The ride back home wasn't actually all that long, and he soon found himself outside the house that had been built over the ruins of the house he'd paid to be burnt down. He inspected it quietly, eyeing the overflowing garden with approval. It looked much nicer than his house had looked—one of the side walls was made entirely of large glass windows, two doors opening onto a porch that wrapped around most of the building. He peered into the empty dining room, smiling, and hoped whoever lived here now was happier than he'd ever been.

Rather than returning to his car, he left it on the far side of the road from his house, and sedately walked the two blocks to Riku's. He walked completely around it, looking for any signs that anybody was awake, and was relieved to discover that there weren't any. The lack of lights itself was suspicious to him, though—if Riku and Sora _were_ there, they'd probably still be up playing video games or something. Scowling, he walked around to the back of the house, and tried to remember which of the kitchen windows had never latched correctly. He could have just picked the lock, but he didn't really want to make anyone suspicious of an actual break-in, so he instead chose a window almost at random and quickly removed the screen. The easy part done, he placed both gloved hands on the outside of the window and started trying to push it up. Just as he was about to give up, he heard a soft click of the latch being shoved out of the locked position, and slid the window up easily before climbing awkwardly inside the house.

The kitchen was just as he remembered it being, everything sparkling clean and the rather frayed towel hanging off the oven's doors. He stepped through it quickly, not pausing in the tiny dining area, and nearly tripped over something in the entryway into the living room. The something hissed at him, swiping at him with a tiny paw, and he smiled as he bent over and picked up the black cat.

"Hey there, Fluffinator," he murmured to it, grinning as the cat leaned forward to sniff at his face. 'Fluffinator' wasn't the cat's real name, of course, but a nickname Sora had labeled it with the first time he'd seen it due to its long fur. The cat, which had to be five years old by now, meowed at him questioningly. Roxas pet it, taking special care to rub the side of her neck, and smiled as she began purring. "I take it you still love me. That's good news, I guess." Giving it one last pet, he placed the cat back down at his feet, and started making his way up the stairs to the spare bedroom. 'Fluffinator' followed him the entire way, rubbing against his legs and still purring.

The bedroom door opened silently at his touch, and Roxas stepped into it cautiously. He needn't have bothered. The bed was clearly empty, linens tucked in perfectly, and he decided to take less caution in inspecting the rest of the room. The bookshelf consisted primarily of comic books and video games, except for the top shelf. On the top shelf were two rather burnt hardcover books and some older knicknacks that Roxas eyed unhappily. Most of the stuff up there were things that had been his three years ago, or things he'd given to Sora, and it was clear that someone had saved those objects from the wreckage after the fire had been put out. When he found Sora again, he made a mental note to apologize for the pain he'd unthinkingly put his brother through...after, of course, yelling at him for not being where he was supposed to be.

Turning away from the shelves, he did a quick tour of the rest of the room, even going so far as to dig through Sora's closet. Just as he'd expected, Sora's keyblade was nowhere to be found, and even the spare keychains he'd jokingly switch the blade's original one for were missing. Scowling, he did a much quicker (and less thorough) search of Riku's room, finding things missing there as well. Most telling of all was the fact that neither of them had their video game consoles pulled out, or even anything the slightest bit out of place. It was like nobody lived in those rooms, and they were just being preserved.

"Mew?" the cat said, putting her paws up on Roxas' leg and lightly clawing his trenchcoat, and he bent down to pick her up again before walking down the stairs with her safely ensconced in his arms.

"You have to stay here," he whispered to her once he was back in the kitchen, and he allowed her to jump out of his arms onto the nearby counter. She sat at the edge, watching curiously as Roxas climbed through the window. She didn't move again until he'd closed the window, at which point she got up on her hind legs to reach out and put her paws against the window, her mouth moving to meow at him pathetically. It was clear that she missed him, and he gave the window a light tap, smiling at her sadly, before replacing the screen and leaving.

He walked back to his car and got back inside, starting it up and wondering whether he should make the trip to Kairi's house as well. But, deciding it was pointless, he instead drove back to the mansion and, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, got out to walk aimlessly around the Underground instead.

"Isn't it a bit late for a kid like you to be wandering around here?" a voiced asked suddenly a few minutes later, and Roxas jumped before spinning around and peering at the guy who had interrupted him. The man stepped obligingly out of the shadows, walking over to Roxas and towering over him. Roxas tilted his head back and scowled. "Although, you look like someone I know, and he can take care of himself alright."

"Who the hell are you?" Roxas asked shortly, ignoring the man's babbling, and started walking away without waiting for an answer. The man fell into step with him.

"My name's Cloud," the man offered quietly. "So what're you doing out here?"

Roxas glared at him for a long moment, and then shrugged and decided the man wasn't being threatening enough to scare off. "Can't sleep," he said eventually. "I've got a lot on my mind."

Cloud 'hm'ed thoughtfully. They walked in an awkward silence for a few minutes, and Roxas was just about to ask Cloud why the man couldn't go find some other poor insomniac to bother, when the man's arm shot out to block Roxas' path and he stopped shortly rather than run into it. He turned to snarl something unkind at his unwanted companion, but ended up gawking instead as he noticed the huge sword the other was suddenly holding in one hand. It had to be just as big as the older man, and he held it loosely as if it didn't weigh a thing.

"You should get out of here," Cloud said commandingly, not looking at him. "You don't have any weapons, and I can't promise to protect you from him."

"From who?" Roxas asked irritably, and then heard soft footsteps coming in their direction. He stayed where he was, scowling as a man stepped out of a nearby alley and the moonlight glinted off his hair.

"You've been looking for me?" The man asked, pointing a sword so long and thin at Cloud that Roxas was surprised the thing didn't break just from being waved around in the air. "You should have just called, rather than go to Hades in search of me."

"I was looking for my light, actually," Cloud said conversationally.

"As long as I'm alive, you'll never find it," the strange man laughed, flipping hair out of his face and giving Cloud the creepiest smile Roxas had ever seen in his life. Roxas backed away a little, not being the slightest bit stealthy about it, and decided it was probably best for him to keep out of this battle. The man looked over at him and seemed to dismiss him as unworthy of his attention, but scowled anyway. "You have company, Cloud," he said softly. "Guess we'll have to put this off for another time."

"No!" Cloud snarled, leaping forward, but there was a bright flash of light and even Roxas had to shield his eyes, being unprepared for the visual assault. When he looked again, the strange man was gone, and Cloud had disappeared with him.

"What the fuck?" Roxas asked to the empty air, and, noting that the horizon was starting to get lighter, decided to go crawl back into bed before anything even weirder happened.

* * *

A/N: That last scene was pretty much something random I added to make the chapter longer. (My beta spent half of this chapter yelling at Roxas for being a LYING WHORE.)

Also, on an uninteresting trivia note: the new house that was built where Roxas' house used to be is based on my aunt's house. The cat, 'Fluffinator', is based on my cat Cassie, who is the cutest fluffy black thing EVER (I am not biased, shut up).


	24. Chapter 24: The Deep and Dying Breath

A/N: Hooray I am not two weeks late on this one! Now here's to hoping I can actually get next month's chapter out in time. (I really dislike the holidays.)

Warnings: I am completely evil. I have no qualms with this. None. At. All.

Disclaimer: I am sick of writing these. I AM NOT CLEVER ENOUGH TO OWN THIS STUFF OKAY.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Four: The Deep and Dying Breath_

"Another mission?" Axel asked softly as Roxas walked into Axel's room late in the afternoon the next day. Axel was frowning, clearly unhappy with this, and Roxas couldn't actually blame him. It was really rare that Roxas took on any missions without his partner by his side, and even rarer for him to take two solo ones so close together. Roxas gave his boyfriend a shaky smile, and comforted himself with the thought that, whatever happened today, he shouldn't have to lie for long

"Yeah," he said softly, zipping up his trenchcoat. "I don't know why I'm being sent on these by myself, or why Xemnas is being so secretive about them, but I don't think I'm going to have to go on many more. At least, I hope not. I get kind of bored without you."

"Well, as long as you promise not to get attracted to anyone else while you're gone," Axel teased, his expression softening. "One day, I'm going to find out who that other guy was, and then I'm going to tear his intestines out and use them as a jump rope."

"So that gives me free leave to make out with girls, right?" Roxas joked, pulling Axel down and kissing him briefly. "I'll see you soon, okay? Hopefully I won't be out too long."

Unfortunately, Roxas was mistaken. He had no idea where to find Riku, a thought that should have occurred to him earlier, and he spent the entire day wandering around asking people if they'd seen someone that looked like him. Some people noted that they'd seen him in passing, but nobody knew who he was exactly, and he returned to the mansion that night in a bad mood.

The next few days went much the same way, with no information to be found, and he was about to give up when he suddenly found himself nearly tripping over a little boy who had run out of a nearby yard. The boy gave him an apologetic grin, and then ran back into the yard. Looking up, Roxas realized that he had somehow made it out by Terra's orphanage. Figuring that pretty much anything was better than accosting every person he walked by, he decided to walk inside and ask the kind woman he hadn't seen for three years.

"You!" was his greeting as he walked in the door and, before he knew what was happening, he was lifted off his feet by the shirtfront.

"Sabin," he gasped, wiggling helplessly in midair. Sabin glowered at him unhappily for a long minute, and then slowly lowered him back to the ground. "What the hell was that for?"

"The past three years hasn't erased my memory," Sabin said, crossing his arms. "I've kept my silence because Celes asked us too, but that doesn't mean I'm happy to see you."

"I was just passing by," Roxas snapped defensively. "I'm trying to find someone, and thought I'd ask Terra if she had any news since I was around. Is that allowed?"

"We're not giving the Organization any information!" Sabin snarled, stepping forward threateningly, and Roxas held up his hands in the hopes that it would prove he meant no harm.

"It's not for them," he said quietly. Sabin give him a disbelieving look, and he gave a long sigh. He was never going to get anywhere. "I'm trying to find my brother, not that it matters to you or anything. I'll just go."

"Wait," a soft voice said, and Celes stepped out from behind Sabin's much larger form. Roxas eyed the woman warily, not feeling entirely comfortable in her presence. He was starting to wish he'd just given up. "Axel mentioned your brother back then. Why are you just looking for him now?"

"I've got reason to believe he's in trouble," he replied unhappily, turning away from her. "I'm actually more looking for his best friend, Riku, than him. I thought I'd seen him the other day..."

"Riku?" Celes asked, tapping at her chin thoughtfully. "The only Riku I've heard of was following the Conclave around. Last I heard, he was helping that boy who's been running around giving them trouble. They've both disappeared since, but I'd try the area around Hollow Bastion if I were you."

Roxas gave her a long look, not entirely believing she was being so helpful, but eventually nodded and started backing out of the orphanage again. "Thanks," he said softly, and decided to return to the mansion for the night.

xxxxxxxxxx

Axel was strangely silent as he watched Roxas get dressed the next morning. Roxas decided to be silent as well, shrugging on his trenchcoat and giving Axel an uncertain look as he slowly zipped it up.

"So. I'm going," he said slowly, running a hand through his hair nervously. There was something off about Axel, something he wasn't sure he liked, and right now the man seemed like a completely different person. Axel sighed and stood up, pulling Roxas into a lingering kiss with a hand at his chin.

"I feel like I'm losing you," he said softly when he pulled away. "You've been really focused on these missions you've been on, and unusually silent about them. Usually you'd let something slip by now."

"Yeah, I know," Roxas sighed, pulling Axel's hand away from his face and giving his knuckles a light kiss, and then grinned at his boyfriend. "I've been promised this is the last one, though. Think you can manage to survive one more day without me around?"

The smile Axel gave him didn't reach the redhead's eyes, and Roxas' own smiled twitched and faded. He tilted his head to the side, curiously, and Axel said without a trace of humor in his voice: "I guess I'll have to, won't I? I don't like it though. First there was that guy you won't tell me anything about, and now whatever's going on you're so obsessed with it...I don't think I've really been on your mind lately. Feeling a bit left behind."

Roxas bit his lip uncertainly, and then reached up to wrap his arms around Axel's neck. "I've been thinking of you," he assured him gently. "Remember what I said, Axel? No matter what happens, I love you. Nobody could ever replace you, even if something happens that makes it look like someone has. Promise."

"Well, as long as you promise," Axel said teasingly, warmth finally creeping into his eyes. "I love you too. And if anything happens, Roxas, I'll always come get you. Remember that, okay?"

"As if I could ever forget," Roxas chuckled lightly, then stood on tiptoes to give Axel another short kiss before walking out of the room.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Where's Sora?" Roxas asked again, eyeing Riku coldly. The man was clearly furious, his eyes switching sporadically from Roxas' shadowed face to his keyblades. "I'll find him one way or another. You'd might as well tell me."

"I'm not telling you anything, Thirteen!" Riku spat, raising his weapon threateningly, though his breathing was still heavy. "The Organization isn't getting that keyblade!"

"The Organization gets what it wants, Riku," Roxas responded quietly, humor finding its way, unbidden, into his voice. "And who said we were after his weapon, anyway? Maybe we just want him!"

"I'd believe that if you didn't have those keyblades yourself," Riku laughed bitterly, waving at the weapons in question, and Roxas lifted Oathkeeper to inspect it curiously. "You think I don't recognize his brother's weapons? That I don't know what they open? I know what's in Kingdom Hearts, and I know what you're all looking for!"

"You don't know anything!" Roxas snarled, swinging the weapon back down, but not falling back into his usual stance. On the way, he'd made a decision that Riku wouldn't have any reason to suspect who he was, and his style was a dead giveaway. The fighting had been brief so far, thankfully, and Riku seemed set on the concept of the Thirteenth, so Roxas didn't think he really had anything to worry about at this point...but he wasn't going to risk it. "Tell me where he is!"

"Never!" Riku yelled back, running forward suddenly and starting the fight up again. Roxas grit his teeth as he blocked it, and then they were fighting in earnest. Roxas couldn't help but be surprised when he realized that he was winning, that somehow he'd managed to become a better fighter than Riku in the years since he'd seen the other. It seemed strange, almost painful, because Riku had used to take on both him and Sora at once before, winning almost effortlessly, and part of him wondered what Riku had been doing. But it was obvious now—Riku had been Maleficent's shadow, the boy that nobody had known anything about, except that he was bitter and dark and horrendously good with his dark magic. If Roxas had thought about it before, if he'd known what had been happening the entire time like he should have...

But he hadn't, and there was nothing he could do about that now. He felt himself being pushed back by Riku, whose triumphant smirk irked him just as much now as it had when they were younger, and he refocused on the fight, pushing back and putting all his strength behind the thought that Riku had gotten his brother in trouble, and may have betrayed him at some point, and that final thought was what put on his last burst of adrenaline-fueled speed to send Riku's weapon flying before he knocked the other man onto his back.

He stood looking down at his old childhood rival and felt entirely too smug about the victory.

"You fight like him," Riku whispered softly, panting. Roxas tilted his head to the side, confused. "And you have his weapons. But you're not—you can't be—"

"His dead brother?" Roxas asked, lips twitching up in a smile. Riku's lips thinned, and Roxas could see a small spark of what looked like hope in his eyes, and for a strange moment he wanted to assure Riku that it _was_ him, that he was fine and maybe, just maybe, they could just all go home. But then he thought of Axel, and of the mystery of Kingdom Hearts, and the tattoo that forever connected him to the Organization, and knew he could never go back to that. "An easy kill," he said instead, feeling a pang in his heart when Riku winced. "Now tell me—"

"I've done enough to him already!" Riku said quietly. "He's safe where he is! I'm not having him taken away from Twi—shit!"

"Twi...light?" Roxas guessed, and grinned. That'd make things easy enough, at least. "The home of the Struggle, eh? Where strange people are in and out year round, and nobody looks twice at a man who clearly doesn't want to be recognized..."

"No!" Riku gasped, knocking Oblivion away from his face and leaping upwards, clearly aiming to tackle Roxas to the ground. But Roxas spun out of the way, slamming the hilt of the keyblade into Riku's back and watching him drop gracelessly to the ground. He kicked him over onto his back, putting a foot on his chest to hold him down, and allowed the keyblades to clatter to the ground. He grinned at Riku's wide eyes, a part of him absolutely reveling in his confusion, and then casually pulled out a Potion and drank it.

"You know," he said conversationally, dropping the empty bottle on Riku's chest. "I get the feeling you and Sora aren't on such good terms any more. You won't warn him that we're after him. You won't do _anything_."

"He won't give you what you want," Riku said coldly, wincing as Roxas put more of his weight on the foot on his chest. "You don't know what you're bringing on yourselves."

"No," Roxas said thoughtfully, "I know exactly what I'm getting into, Riku. After all," and here he pushed back his hood, grinning coldly at Riku's gasp of surprise, "I am his brother. But you, Riku...you can call me Ven."

"Ven?" Riku asked suspciously. Roxas, not sure where the name had even come from, kept silent. "Three years of mystery, and now you're finally showing your face. Why now? Why me?"

"Something new, I guess," Roxas answered flippantly in his best imitation of Axel. "Keeping the secret was just getting so boring. And you were a matter of convenience, so don't take it personally."

"What are you?" Riku asked harshly. Roxas' eyebrows rose in surprise at the question, and he tilted his head to the side yet again in confusion. "Everything about you is exactly like Roxas, even down to that obnoxious head-tilt. And yet...something's off. Almost inhuman. You won't trick Sora like that."

"This is an easier game than you think," Roxas laughed, finally taking his foot off Riku's chest and backing away from him. He watched, without letting his cold smile fade, as Riku warily pushed himself up off the ground. He raised a hand slowly, allowing a small ball of light to form in the palm, and watched as Riku focused on that, clearly intending to dodge whatever was thrown at him. "Just watch!" Without warning, he thrust his hand toward Riku and let the light in his palm explode. He heard Riku's pained scream as he was effectively, if temporarily, blinded, and then he ran.

* * *

A/N: lol Ven. I have no idea where that even came from WAY TO GO, SELF. Ugh. (Sometimes I just throw stuff in randomly and have to completely change my plans. It's very upsetting.)


	25. Chapter 25: Here I Go So Dishonestly

A/N: It has been a long few months. I'm sorry about the whole not updating thing. I, um, kind of got sucked into a new/old fandom? (A few years ago I was _really_ into FullMetal Alchemist, and then that wore off, and now I've suddenly gotten myself drawn back in. So, yeah, blame FMA for my latest disappearance. Now if only I could write those characters...)

Warnings: You know what I said about having no qualms with being evil? Yeah. That still stands.

Disclaimer: Squaresoft and Disney: jointly owning my soul since 2002. (Holy shit that's NINE YEARS.)

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Five: Here I Go (So Dishonestly)_

Axel looked surprised to see him. Roxas supposed he should have expected that, since he'd been out on his false missions every day for the better part of a week, but it was still sort of painful. Had he really been paying that little attention to his boyfriend?

"That was a pretty short mission," Axel said eventually, his voice entirely too even. "Xemnas finally going easy on you?"

Roxas snorted. "Does that man know the meaning of sympathy?" he asked. "Just because it was short doesn't mean it wasn't a pain in the ass. Honestly, I think he expected it to take longer than it did."

"So you're done for the day then?" There was no masking the hope in Axel's voice. "No more mystery solo missions for a while?"

"No, I don't think so." Roxas smiled, mostly to hide the way his stomach twisted at the half-truth. Part of him was horrified by how easy it seemed to be to do that, but most of him was just relieved. "I've still been forbidden from telling you anything that's been happening though."

"Weird," Axel mused quietly, sliding from the bed and placing the book he'd been reading on the nightstand. "But I guess I can live with it, as long as it's over. So what were you planning on doing for the rest of the day?"

"Well," Roxas said slowly, pretending to think about it as he walked over to the redhead. He put his hands on the taller man's hips and gave him a slow smile. "I was thinking maybe we could make up for lost time? If you're not busy that is."

Axel grinned, so obviously happy about this turn of events that Roxas had to resist the sudden urge to tell him everything and ask the man to come with him. But he couldn't do it. How could he ask Axel to leave everything he knew to go chasing after Roxas' wayward brother? Besides, who's to say Sora would even believe that it was him? He'd been gone for three long years and had a damning tattoo on his wrist-he could be too easily discovered. He could be putting Axel in unnecessary danger, and that wasn't acceptable.

So Roxas moved one hand to curl in the front of Axel's shirt instead, pulling the man down for a long kiss until the urge faded. When they parted, Axel was holding on to him as if afraid he would disappear again.

"Bed?" Roxas asked breathlessly, already taking a half step forward to push Axel in that direction.

"Bed," Axel agreed, smiling again before dipping his head for another kiss. Roxas was more than happy to oblige him. He'd missed this while he was searching for Riku, missed the passion and love that seeped into Axel's every movement and seemed to light Roxas' insides on fire. He wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to live without it.

When they finally made it to the bed, Roxas pulled away and held Axel at bay with a gentle hand on his chest. "I love you," he said gently, smiling softly.

"I love you too," Axel returned, his smile significantly more predatory as he rolled Roxas onto his back. "And I'm going to spend the rest of the day showing you just how much."

xxxxxxx

Hours later, Roxas was sitting up in bed staring blankly at Axel's face. The man was fast asleep, laying flat on his back and snoring softly. One arm was thrown haphazardly across Roxas' side of the bed, the other dangling off the edge. He looked utterly at peace, and Roxas was glad for that, he really was. It was a good memory to take with him.

Roxas sighed, long and nearly inaudible even in the quiet room, and got out of bed. His feet didn't make any noise as he walked around, finding and putting on his clothing before walking around to the far side of the bed and staring down at Axel once again.

He should leave his rings. It was only right, he told himself silently, twisting them around his fingers nervously. He was leaving Axel to chase after his past, was unsure if he would ever see the man again. He didn't deserve to keep them.

But Axel would have everything Roxas had collected in the entire time he'd been with the Organization, and these would be all Roxas would have left. He couldn't part with them. Instead he lifted Axel's dangling arm, crossing it against his chest, and leaned down to leave a brief kiss.

When he left the room, the door closing with the slighest of noises behind him, he didn't look back. He didn't think he was strong enough for that.

xxxxxxx

"Trouble sleeping again?" Cloud's voice came from nowhere, and Roxas scowled as the taller blond stepped out of the shadows. "It's a bad night for a walk."

"And it's a bad night for you to bother me," Roxas snarled at him, and kept walking. He rolled his eyes when Cloud fell into step with him, but he didn't say anything else.

"It's going to rain soon," Cloud observed after a few long minutes of silence, and sighed when Roxas just grunted in response. "Seems to match your mood, at least. Care to tell a stranger what's bothering you?"

"No," Roxas replied sharply. His mind wandered as they continued walking, and he found himself glancing out of the corner of his eye to consider Cloud. He was dressed differently this time, he noted, decked out in solid black, and his sword was far more visible than before. "...What's your weapon called?" he asked eventually, curious.

"This?" Cloud asked, drawing it from its sheath and holding it in front of him. It wasn't the same one that he'd had before, Roxas noted with interest, and the design was...well, strange. "It's just called the Fusion Sword. There's six separate blades that lock together to form it. I'm, ah, not really good with names." Roxas snorted. "Why don't you have any weapons?"

"I can summon them," Roxas responded shortly.

"Like a keyblade or something, huh?" Cloud asked thoughtfully as he put his weapon away. "Neat ability."

"Yeah, I guess," Roxas muttered, looking up at Cloud again and scowling. "Why are you hanging around me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I was going in the same direction as you," Cloud replied, his voice far too calm for Roxas' liking. The guy clearly wasn't put off by his surliness. "I'm just fetching my bike before I head out."

"Out where?"

"Wherever," Cloud shrugged. "Coliseum, maybe. Haven't had a good fight in a while, and there's a tournament coming up soon."

"...Do you think you'll be going by Twilight Town at any point?" Roxas asked. "I'm looking for...uh. A fight of my own, I guess. Not big on heroes. I was going to get on the train, but if you wouldn't mind..."

"I wouldn't mind some company." Cloud smiled at him, a slight quirk of the lips that caught Roxas by surprise. "That is, if you don't mind being nicer."

Roxas grinned back ruefully and shrugged. "If it saves me some munny, I think I can handle it. By the way, my name's..." and here he paused, for only the briefest moment, before making up his mind and saying: "Ven. My name's Ven."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but the first part was supposed to be a lot longer and, uh, pornier...but I can't remember when I was last in the mood to write porn SO. Yeah.


	26. Chapter 26: Secrets and Separation

A/N: HEY GUYS I'M BACK. *listens to crickets chirping* Hello? Anyone? So remember last chapter, I was talking about getting sucked back into FMA? Now it's Final Fantasy VIII and Ronin Warriors. And also way too much schoolwork. But I'm going to try to write a ton of this story for NaNoWriMo again, so maybe I'll come back? Yay!

Warnings: Uh...violence? And Sora and Roxas are both idiots. Just so you know.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. I don't even own a 3DS in order to get DDD. I am a sad fangirl.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Six: Secrets and Separation_

Twilight Town was surprisingly quaint. The streets were lined with old-fashioned light posts, the tram that circled the town moved at a pace slow enough that it'd probably be quicker to walk, and there was a candy store sitting in the middle of the town square. All in all, it seemed like the most idyllic of towns-an illusion that was ruined only by the people who walked the streets carrying weapons. The most interesting part was how the regular townspeople didn't even give the shady warriors around them a second glance.

All but Roxas. He'd always been terribly short and skinny, and the lollipop hanging out of his mouth probably didn't help. Still, regardless of the occasional dirty look he received, nobody stopped him as he wandered seemingly aimlessly around the town. In actuality, he was methodically searching for his brother, strolling slowly down every road and looking behind even the unlikeliest of places. There were a lot of interesting things in the town: a little room behind a frayed curtain in an alley, tunnels that echoed spookily as he walked through them, and even what he suspected the locals would refer to as a haunted mansion on the other side of a small copse of woods that could be reached only by squeezing through a hole in the wall. It was as he was climbing up the side of an abandoned shop that he heard the sounds of a fight, and he ran across the rooftops to find out what was going on.

A small crowd had gathered around the hole in the wall as he'd been checking out the rest of the area, and from his vantage point he had a clear view of the spectacle they were watching. There was a group of four people—well, two people and two humanoids at least—obviously in the middle of some kind of fight. Roxas' eyes were drawn first to the two humanoids, who, judging by the fact that they were what could only be a duck and a dog, were clearly from Disney. They were also down for the count, with looks of dazed exhaustion that Roxas hadn't seen in years. Roxas frowned at them uncertainly for a moment, tempted to give them a hand, but quickly shrugged the idea off; he wasn't going to get caught up in somebody else's problems. Instead he turned his attention to the person who was still up and swinging, idly taking note of the guy's obvious talent and equally obvious exhaustion—and, once his brain caught up to his eyes, the way his own heart felt as if it had stopped.

It was Sora.

It was Sora, and the man he was fighting was bearing down on him without pause, and Roxas could read the intent for murder clearly on the man's face. For a long moment, Roxas was frozen in place, almost certain that he had found his brother only to watch him die. But then Roxas was moving before the thought that he needed to do something had a chance to cross his mind, and he was sliding in front of a fallen Sora just in time to block what ought to have been the final strike.

"The fuck?" Sora's enemy muttered at the same time Sora gasped out a startled "What?", and if Roxas hadn't been so focused on saving his brother he probably would have found their combined reaction funny. As it was, Roxas didn't give either of them a chance to recover before he brought up Oblivion in a swift attack that his opponent barely dodged. The other man recovered quickly, but it was unfortunately too late for him. Not only was Roxas just plain pissed off that he'd almost been too late to save his brother, but the other man was still winded from the previous fight. It was over before it began, and Roxas smirked at the man as he prepared the final swing to make sure he'd never get up again-

"NO!" Sora called from behind him, jumping from the ground to grab a hold of the arm Roxas wasn't about to use to kill someone. Startled, Roxas nearly turned to stare at his brother, but stopped himself at the last moment. He'd never turned his back on an enemy before, and he wasn't about to start now just because Sora was an idiot. Funnily enough, he did find himself sharing a disbelieving look with the man he'd nearly killed. "You can't," Sora panted, "I wasn't going to—nobody has to die!"

"This is ridiculous," the other man said clearly as he slowly scooted over toward the weapon Roxas had knocked out of his hands. Roxas watched him with steely eyes, but remained motionless while Sora still had a hold on his arm. He supposed he'd might as well as listen to Sora for now. "You gonna let me go, just like that?"

"I don't like to see people die," Sora replied with an earnestness that hadn't changed since before Roxas had left. "Especially when I'm the cause of it. If you leave now, promise never to come back to Twilight Town—"

"Ridiculous," the stranger said again, but obligingly sheathed his sword while keeping a careful eye on Roxas. "But I suppose you can have it your way...for now. After all, you won't be staying here forever."

Roxas waited until the man was out of sight to put his own weapons away. Then, tugging at his hood to make sure it was keeping his face hidden, he turned to observe Sora. He looked...better than Roxas had expected. Of course, given that Roxas had still been imaging Sora as he'd looked the day the house had burnt down, that wasn't saying much. Still, he was gratified to see that Sora was taller, more muscular, and seemed, for once, completely comfortable in his body. And even exhausted and close to defeat, Sora wielded the keyblade with a grace and dexterity Roxas had never witnessed in him before. Despite being in the Underground, a place Roxas had never imagined his brother could deal with for long, Sora was clearly thriving.

He didn't, Roxas thought with a strange mix of pride and bitterness, need his dead brother to come back to life and slow him down again. He'd thought Sora was in trouble, and maybe he was, but it clearly wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Anyway, now that Roxas knew where he was, he could probably keep an eye on him. Maybe he could even get Axel to help.

He watched for a long moment as Sora patted at his numerous pockets with a frustrated look on his face, then began to walk away.

"Wait!" he heard Sora call to him after a few steps, and Roxas halted immediately to hear what he had to say. But when he heard Sora take a few uncertain steps toward him, he turned half around. He'd unsheathed Oathkeeper automatically, but forced himself to keep it resting loosely at his side. Sora frowned at him for a brief moment, and then turned an uncertain scowl on Roxas' keyblade. Roxas briefly cursed his thoughtlessness. He should have considered that Sora was bound to recognize the weapons Roxas was carrying, just as Riku had. And then would also have recognized the way Roxas fought, and also taken in his savior's slight frame, so similar to his own. And Sora, despite all evidence to the contrary, was not stupid, so when he put two and two together...

Shaking his head sharply, Roxas spun on his heel to leave, and with the first step he took, Sora said, in a tiny, hesitant voice that tore at Roxas' heart: "Why did you leave?"

"Damnit," Roxas said under his breath, but didn't respond.

"Please, Roxas," Sora continued after a moment, almost tripping over his words, "I mean, if you are Roxas, but you've got to be because you have Oblivion and Oathkeeper and the way you i_fight/i_ and—Roxas, please, don't leave me again."

Roxas shook his head, momentarily frozen in indecision because he _could_ just leave, even if Sora tried to stop him he could just knock the tired man out of the way, but— ...But this was Sora, the reason he'd survived long enough to find Axel, the reason he'd lied to the man he loved and snuck out on in the dead of night, and the one person he'd hurt more than anyone else he'd ever known. He couldn't do that again.

Putting Oathkeeper away once again and pushing back his hood as he turned fully around, he gave his brother the best smile he could muster. "Hey," he said softly. "Long time no see."

The words were hardly out of his mouth before he found his arms full as Sora attempted to squeeze the life out of him. After a moment's hesitation, he squeezed back, and almost smiled when he heard Sora choke back a sob before burying his face in Roxas' shoulder.

"Do you have to cry on me?" Roxas asked a little teasingly, and wasn't surprised by the light punch to his chest. He rubbed his brother's back comfortingly even as he shifted nervously, eyes on the curious crowd they were still surrounded by. "You're making a scene."

"I'm making a scene?" Sora asked, voice muffled since his face was still pressed into the fabric of Roxas' shirt. "What do you call leaping out of nowhere to save my life?"

"Style."

Sora laughed weakly, the sound more of a giggle than anything, and finally released his death grip to step back and grin at Roxas. He lifted a hand briefly to wipe at his face, and then put a hand on each of Roxas' shoulders. "I knew you couldn't be dead."

"I almost was," Roxas replied quietly, allowing a small smile to make its home on his face. "It's been an interesting few years. What are you doing in the Underground?"

"Oh man, you will _never _believe what happened to me!" Sora replied excitedly, squeezing Roxas' shoulders in what Roxas recognized as an attempt to keep himself from flailing. "A couple months after you left, Kairi up and disappeared, and this strange guy came to the house and started telling us all these weird things about the keyblades and how we were going to have to save Kairi ourselves because some witch had kidnapped her, so me and Riku went off to get her back but we got split up, and then Leon found me wandering around lost and then Donald and Goo—oh no!" Looking suddenly frantic, Sora jumped back from him and started digging through his pockets again. "Ohnoohnoohno I can't _carry_ them back, what am I going to do?"

"...What are you looking for?" Roxas asked, his smile turning into a grin. Sora hadn't changed at all. "Maybe I've got it."

"Potions!" Sora moaned pathetically. "Every time I go out, I forget to stock up on potions. It usually ends up okay, but this time Donald and Goofy are hurt and I can't just leave them-"

"Don't worry, I've got a bunch," Roxas interrupted soothingly, pulling two potions out of his pockets as he spoke. "Honestly, Sora, you've been here almost as long as I have; how do you forget to bring potions?"

"Oh, well, you know," Sora replied sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head. "Donald's a mage, right, and Goofy's always got a ton of everything, so usually I don't even really get a chance to use one even if I do remember to bring them, so..."

Roxas shook his head, still smiling, and handed the potions to Sora before gently pushing his brother in the direction of his friends. "C'mon, let's get those two up already."

Sora beamed at him before jogging over to the other two. Roxas trailed after him, watching as he skid to a halt and started helping the dog drink a potion. He was recovered in short order and pulling another potion out of one of his own pockets. The duck didn't take much longer to recover, and by the time Roxas came to a stop by Sora's side, the duck was waving around a rather goofy-looking wand and questioning Sora. Or at least Roxas assumed the duck was questioning him; unsurprisingly, the beak seemed to make it difficult for the duck to enunciate.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked curiously when the duck stopped yelling for some sort of staring contest with Sora.

"Donald says that you can't come with us because he's suspicious of you showing up all of a sudden and he won't _listen_ when I tell him you're my _brother_," Sora replied all in one breath, without turning his gaze away from the duck's.

"Does it help if I refuse to leave?" Roxas asked cheekily. The duck turned the glare on him, but it wasn't very impressive—Roxas had been glared at by every member of the Organization at some point, and he'd never backed down from any of them. "I think you lost the staring match."

"And that means Roxas comes with us!" Sora exclaimed dramatically. "That and I'm not letting you chase Roxas off like you chased Riku off. Roxas goes with us or I leave with him!"

With a single loud quack that Roxas was pretty sure had no actual content to it, the duck threw his arms in the air and started walking away. The dog looked uncertainly between the duck and Sora for a moment before waving jauntily at Sora and following after the duck.

"He think just 'cause he's the grumpiest he gets to decide everything," Sora said poutily, hands on his hips as he watched the humanoids walk away. "When I first met them and Riku showed up, he started arguing with me about whether Riku could come with us, and then Riku just up and disappeared! And I still haven't found him." Sora sighed deeply, and Roxas scowled. He should probably tell Sora about his confrontation with Riku, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea. Riku clearly didn't want to be found, and then there was the problem of Ven...

"So anyway!" Sora said, perking up and turning to Roxas again. "We've been staying with a few people, and you can stay with us if you want. Donald won't like it 'cause he's dead set on this secrecy thing, but it's not like you're going to tell anyone about me, right?"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, so there won't be anyone for me to tell," Roxas replied, smiling at the grin Sora gave him. "Anyway, you haven't exactly told me much yet. What have you been doing?"

"Oh, have you heard of the Conclave?" Sora asked curiously. Roxas nodded, but didn't offer anything about what he knew. "Well, they were releasing the Heartless and trying to open Kingdom Hearts, but they needed Kairi to do it and she's been missing forever..." He continued on in that vein, describing his time in the Underground closing holes in Kingdom Hearts. Roxas let it all wash over him, only half paying attention. He was too busy reveling in the feeling of being with his brother again, surprised that they could fall back into pattern so easily with three years of separation and secrets between them.

* * *

A/N: So...how long has it been? I can't believe I haven't written more of this yet. As a matter of fact, I only have through chapter 30 plotted out so far (31 is giving me some trouble), but if all goes well I'll have 50,000 words of this story once November is over. I probably won't post again until midway through December (because I'll need to edit after the NaNo rush), but hopefully I'll have enough to post for a good long while. We'll see. Goodness knows I can never keep up with my promises. Sigh.

Also: my apologies for any issues with the writing. My beta is kind of awol.


	27. Chapter 27: What You Have to Do

A/N: So this chapter wasn't posted any earlier for precisely two reasons: 1) the end of the semester decided it wanted to destroy me, and, 2) I thought my beta had returned from being AWOL, but it appears she hadn't. This is me being sick of waiting on her. And just in time for the new year! Joy.

Warnings: Uh, not much? Roxas is a little angsty, Sora is ridiculous, and there's fighting. But that's it.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. Except four cats. Go ahead and sue me, the damn things keep knocking everything over anyway.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Seven: What You Have to Do_

"So what about you?" Sora asked brightly the next morning as he dragged Roxas down to breakfast.

"What?" Roxas asked blearily, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He'd been thinking about Axel all night, about how he'd just up and left with no word. Hell, he'd been acting like everything was going to return to normal, that his fake missions had ended and he could finally—finally!—pay attention to Axel again. Instead, here he was about to have breakfast with his brother, and completely unable to get the image of his boyfriend's heartbroken face out of his head. On top of that, sleeping in a bed just felt _wrong_ without Axel there keeping him warm. Needless to say, he'd tossed and turned all night, and barely gotten any sleep.

"What have you been doing?" Sora asked patiently, well used to Roxas' inability to function first thing in the morning. "I told you absolutely everything about everything last night. Now it's your turn!"

Roxas hesitated for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts. There were so many things he couldn't tell Sora, about the Organization and about Axel. But the Organization had been his family these past few years, and trying to take them out of his life was nearly impossible. And to try to separate himself from Axel...

"I...joined a gang," he said slowly, still thinking. He supposed he would just have to gloss over things, really. Joining a gang in the Underground wasn't really a big thing; in fact, it was much stranger to _not_ be in a gang, and certainly a lot less safe. "Not much to say about that, really. You know what the gangs get up to, right?" Sora nodded, a frown crossing his face that Roxas decided to ignore. "Well, it was just three years of that."

"And nothing else?" Sora was giving him the most disbelieving look Roxas could ever remember seeing on his face. "I mean, you didn't have friends or, or enemies, or something?"

"I had friends in the gang, mostly," Roxas allowed. "A few outsiders would come by and I was on friendly terms with them, but I'd never call them friends." Mostly because he was actually sort of terrified of Yuna, Rikku, and Paine (especially Paine). "I was closest to my partner, though. He was my best friend, and..." Roxas knew that his trailing off meant that Sora was going to get curious again, but he couldn't help it. There was so much he could say about Axel, so much that he _would_ say given half a chance, and he really wasn't in the mood to talk about the man he'd left. Besides, he didn't want to give too much away. He wasn't sure if Sora actually knew he was gay, and he didn't want to find out the hard way that his brother wouldn't approve of it.

"You really miss him, huh?" Sora asked sympathetically.

"I guess." Roxas shrugged. "Like I said, he was my best friend. But it doesn't matter now. I can't go back. They'll kill me if I show up now."

"What, how come?" Sora gasped, flailing a bit in his surprise. "If he was your best friend, he can't kill you, best friends just don't _do_ that!"

"Orders are orders," Roxas replied dispassionately. "I've abandoned the gang, and I could do a lot of damage to their privacy if I talked to the wrong people. Even if I go back now, the fact is that I left once. They couldn't know if I'd leave again."

For a brief moment, Sora looked like he was going to cry, and Roxas' heart twisted at the sight. But then his brother pasted an unfamiliar determined expression on his face, his eyes hardening in a way that Roxas had never seen before. He'd thought Sora hadn't changed at all, but he was clearly wrong; somewhere along the way, Sora had grown up. "Well, you're here now," Sora said, the determination on his face echoing in his voice. "And if you decide to leave, that's fine. I mean, I'd prefer it if you didn't because I just got you back and everything, but it's your choice, right? And I'd always welcome you back. You're my brother. That's more important than anything that could get between us."

Roxas stared mutely back at his brother, completely thrown off guard. He'd known, of course, that Sora would never turn him away if he'd left; it just wasn't in Sora's nature. But to hear it spoken out loud, to hear it so bluntly, when the only other person who'd ever been so open with him was Axel—

"Yo, Sora!" an unfamiliar voice called, breaking into Roxas' thoughts. Sora looked past Roxas and brightened considerably, waving energetically in a way that could be mistaken for one of his flails. Roxas turned to face the newcomers, and raised his eyebrows at the assorted trio walking up to them. He found himself automatically assessing their strengths and weaknesses, but forced himself to stop. Even if they were enemies of Sora—which they clearly weren't, not with how happy Sora was to see them—two of them didn't look like fighters at all, and the third looked, well, kind of weak. "So this is the guy who saved you yesterday, huh?" the blond boy in the front said, smirking and looking down at Roxas. "Huh. He doesn't look like much."

Roxas just raised his eyebrows at the stranger, a little bemused. He supposed the reaction shouldn't have been unexpected—he really was ridiculously short, and he didn't look as strong as he was—but considering that he had been completely prepared to kill the man attacking Sora, he would have hoped people would have a more sensible reaction than to challenge him, however obliquely.

"You said the same thing when you met me," Sora responded with a laugh, crossing his arms and mimicking Roxas' facial expression. "Do you really just like to get your butt whooped that much?" The boy made an annoyed face at Sora that caused Sora to laugh again before turning to Roxas. "Ths is Hayner," he said cheerfully. "He thinks he's tough because he comes in second in the amateur section of the Struggle, but he's cool."

"I suppose it wouldn't be fair of me to try to start a fight with him then," Roxas said dryly.

"I dunno, I might surprise you," Hayner replied with a smirk. "I've been training really hard while Sora's been gone."

"A few months won't make _that_ much of a difference. Besides, Roxas and I have always been pretty evenly matched. If you can't beat me, then you can't beat him!"

"I still need to see how much better I'm doing, though," Hayner pointed out. "So I was kind of hoping for a spar with you, Sora, though I think I might prefer to spar with the new guy instead."

"The new guy is Sora's brother, and his name's Roxas," Roxas said before Sora had a chance to. "And I think he'd be pleased to spar with someone who thinks he's not any good."

"I didn't say that exactly!" Hayner argued, but he was grinning. "But I'd like to see if you're as good as Sora thinks you are. I know everyone was saying that you beat that guy Sora was having trouble with, but I'd like to see it for myself."

"Breakfast first!" Sora cut in. Roxas rolled his eyes at his brother, but he knew why he'd thought it was necessary to say that; Roxas had always been the type to go straight to the fight when there was one coming for him. He usually preferred to get them out of the way, and this hadn't changed-but after some time with the Organization, he'd learned that it was better to fight with at least a little bit of food in your stomach.

"Oh yeah," Hayner said agreeably. "You won't catch me fighting without eating. By the way, Roxas,"—here he finally turned to Roxas without trying to look superior—"these are my best friends. She's Ollette, and this guy's Pence. Neither of them Struggle, but I let them hang around anyway."

"Isn't he so kind?" Pence simpered, an exaggerated look of adoration on his face for a brief moment. Then he laughed and held out a hand to Roxas. "It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you showed up; Sora's always telling everyone that he couldn't believe you'd died. Something about not having any enemies who would actually tie you down in your sleep?"

Roxas gave Sora a suspicious look, but shrugged good-naturedly. "Yeah, I suppose that was a bit suspicious. I bet the authorities didn't take his opinion too seriously though."

"They kept saying there had to be someone that wanted you dead," Sora sighed, frowning. "I told him that it wasn't possible, because you hardly talked to anybody in school, let alone anyone else. I mean, I guess you could have had enemies I didn't know about, but..."

"But you don't think so," Roxas finished for him.

"No, I don't," Sora agreed, "but I don't think it really matters what happened now anyway. I'm just glad you're back."

Roxas smiled back at his brother, and said with as much sincerity as he could muster, "I'm glad I'm back too."

But part of him wasn't. That part of him was still stuck wherever Axel was, and wishing beyond anything else that he could have stayed.

-'-

Roxas couldn't help but smirk as he fought Hayner. The guy was definitely an amateur, and he wasn't sure what Sora was doing sparring with him. It probably had something to do with Sora's big heart, because there wasn't a person alive that he wouldn't help if it was possible. Still, Hayner was...not bad, exactly, he had talent. He just wasn't anywhere close to Roxas' league. Still, he couldn't bring himself to take the fight seriously. So he danced around Hayner, sort of enjoying the frustrated look on his opponent's face, and tested his defenses, mostly because those defenses were _terrible_. Hayner was a completely offensive fighter, often leaving himself open when he made attacks that were only worthwhile if they actually hit. The problem was that he was just a little too slow. So Roxas had no issues getting through to land a hit, but he never landed one that would incapacitate Hayner.

"Okay, okay, I give up!" Hayner finally exclaimed after allowing Roxas to have his fun for a few minutes. "Hyne, I think you're even faster than Sora is. This is ridiculous. How am I ever going to win anything?"

"You need to strengthen your defenses," Roxas replied helpfully, even though he was pretty sure the question was meant to be rhetorical. "You make it way too easy for someone with a little bit of speed or finesse to land a hit. And unfortunately for you, both Sora and I-and almost any other pro fighter you'll encounter-have a lot of both."

"I hate defending," Hayner replied grumpily, kicking at the hard-packed dirt with a toe. "It seems like a waste of time."

"In a real fight, the trick is to know when to go on the offense, not when you need to defend. Defending is always necessary."

"You fight really offensively, though!" Hayner protested. "Sora does too! I wish he could have made it into the last tournament so I could really see him fight."

"Why don't I just spar with Roxas right now?" Sora asked, coming out of nowhere to clap a hand on Roxas' shoulder. Roxas only gave him a brief glare, but shrugged. "I want to see if he's still as good as I am anyway."

"Bet I'm better," Roxas offered confidently. He'd beaten Riku easily, after all; Sora would probably be a piece of cake. He couldn't tell Sora that, though. Sora couldn't know where Riku was, or else the older man would definitely be with him. It was probably for the best that he didn't mention the fight. "But I suppose it can't hurt to find out for sure."

"You're on," Sora grinned. "Hayner, you want to give us some room?"

"Like I'd want to get stuck in the middle of this fight," Hayner responded with a laugh, and ran off to the side without further prompting.

Sora and Roxas turned to each other.

"So how do you want to do this?" Sora asked. "First blood?"

"Disarm or killing stroke?" Sora gave Roxas a concerned frown, and he scratched at the back of his head in uncertainty. "It's, uh, what I've gotten used to. But if you're not comfortable-"

"No, it's fine, I do it with Leon all the time." Sora still looked worried, so Roxas just stared at him for a moment so he would continue. "I guess I just keep forgetting how much I've missed, you know? You never would have suggested a killing stroke before."

Roxas looked away from Sora's eyes and took a deep breath before responding. "Well, that's how it works down here. Just because you've hurt an enemy doesn't mean he'll give up."

"Roxas..."

"Look, let's just spar, alright?" Roxas snapped. It was a little more harsh than he'd intended, and, though Sora didn't flinch, he shook his head at himself and continued more softly anyway. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm here now, and I couldn't go back if I wanted to."

Sora still looked like he was going to say something, so Roxas fell into his beginning stance and scowled at his brother. The other man took the hint with a long sigh before stepping back a few paces and grinning as he fell into his own stance. Roxas had a brief moment to consider how strange they must look across from each other, like one of those scenes out of a movie where you looked in a mirror and the person inside of it was the exact opposite of the person you were—then Sora was running toward him, weapon raised, a spark in his eye that was as serious as his image wasn't.

The fight had begun.

But it wasn't long before Roxas realized that there was no way Sora was going to win. And Sora knew it too. Roxas had always been a touch faster than Sora, but Sora had always been a bit stronger. Their skill levels had always been the same. By the end of their time training together, every spar had ended with a lucky hit, because they knew each other so well that neither could get past the other's defenses. Now, though, things had changed. Roxas was still faster; Sora was still stronger; they were still at the same level. The problem was, Sora's style hadn't changed a bit, while Roxas, having fought one-on-one with a ridiculous assortment of opponents, all of whom carried different weapons, had been forced to learn new tricks and methods. But Sora had been fighting the Conclave, not the Organization. Not many people in the Conclave would be at Sora's level, and, even if they were, they all fought in groups and got in each other's ways anyway. If a lot of mediocre fighters were attacking him all at once, or if he could force himself to stop reacting automatically to the way he was accustomed to Roxas fighting, he'd probably be fine. As it was, he wasn't.

So Roxas was disappointed to find himself nearly dancing around Sora as well. He let the fight drag on for longer than necessary, purposely ignoring a few openings (mostly ones that would have employed some underhanded tactics that Demyx had taught him), until he finally found the perfect moment. He ended the fight with a flourish, knocking Sora's weapon a few feet away and all but striking a pose.

There was a long moment as the two of them just stared at each other, panting heavily. Then, slowly, the smile that had disappeared in the middle of the battle spread across Sora's face.

"I think I need to train more," he said. He sounded nearly as pleased with this fact as Roxas was disappointed.

* * *

A/N: So, bad news: it turns out that I didn't managed to get another 50k of this story written for NaNo. School decided it wanted to kick my butt, and I gave up 25k in, and yeah. On the bright side, I've got about five and a half chapters written! So we'll be good for a little while at least.


	28. Chapter 28: The Place to Be Alive

A/N: So my beta stopped being AWOL long enough to tell me that everything is wonderful. Yeah. That means all mistakes are now legitimately my own. This makes me sad.

Warnings: Have I mentioned that Sora is ridiculous? Because Sora is ridiculous. And, uh, so is Yuffie.

Disclaimer: Look, I don't even own the title of this chapter. What makes you think I own anything else in this story?

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Place to Be Alive_

Roxas wondered if Traverse Town was cursed. He'd only ever seen a few Heartless at a time before, but this town seemed to be absolutely covered with the damn things; every time he killed one of them, a half dozen more seemed to take their place. It was no wonder Sora wanted to come to this place to train.

It was also no wonder Sora's style hadn't changed in years. These monsters weren't very difficult to fight, and it was far too easy to allow oneself to fall into habit during the battle. Roxas certainly wasn't paying much attention to his own enemies. He was halfheartedly watching Sora and admiring the ridiculous amount of joy he could see on his brother's face. He'd never thought of Sora as much of a fighter—he was too kind to people, and genuinely seemed to dislike hurting them—but it was clear that, given an appropriate enemy to fight, he enjoyed it as much as Roxas did.

This was good. This meant that Sora was trainable, which Roxas hadn't been sure about. After being in the Underground nearly as long as Roxas, Sora should have been capable of holding his own against Roxas, of learning his new moves and responding accordingly. Instead he'd treated fighting Roxas the same as he would treat fighting a Heartless. This was a habit he was soon going to be broken out of.

When the Heartless finally seemed to run out, Roxas turned to Sora and smiled. Sora grinned back, clearly proud of his victory over the shadows. Roxas let him dwell on that for a moment.

"I figured out why you suck," he said brightly.

Sora's grin dropped immediately into a scowl, and he swung at Roxas with the flat of the keyblade. Roxas laughed and blocked it, then swung in his other keyblade. Sora ducked under the stroke and rammed his shoulder into Roxas' chest, knocking him flat on his back.

"You jerk!" Sora laughed. "You could at least pretend to be nice about it. Honestly, who tells their own brother that they suck?"

"You should just be grateful I'm honest," Roxas replied loftily. He would have tilted his head back to stick his nose up in the air, but it was already flat against the ground. Instead he just gave Sora the most snottily disapproving look he could muster, and chuckled when Sora smacked his arm. "But seriously, I _did_ figure it out. Let me up."

Sora bounced to his feet, and offered a hand to help Roxas up. Roxas took it, smiling, and then began explaining what Sora's issues were. Sora listened attentively, far more aware during Roxas' lecture than he'd ever been in any class, and when Roxas was done, he nodded seriously before talking.

"I've fought a bunch of really strong Heartless, but I've always had at least Donald and Goofy to back me up. I guess I just got so used to having them around to guard my weak points that I never bothered to improve them."

"That's going to stop now," Roxas said decisively. "You need to start thinking during fights again, Sora. I know we've always been pretty evenly matched, but you used to beat me sometimes, and between the two of us we would even be able to kick Riku's ass. When you fight alone, you need to remember that you're just that—alone. And when you fight with friends, you can't just depend on them to protect your weak spots, you need to protect theirs too. I think you need to fight without those two for a while."

"But I can't just leave them-!"

"I didn't say you had to leave them. You just need them to stay out of battles as much as possible, and only jump in to help you if you literally need your life saved. Anyway, you won't be alone. Do you think I'd let you fight without me?"

"No, of course not," Sora protested quickly. "It's just, I've been fighting with Donald and Goofy for years now. I'm so used to them watching my back that I don't know if I can fight without them."

"You'll have me," Roxas said softly. "I'd never let you die."

Sora still looked uncertain, but he took a deep breath and nodded, squaring his shoulders. Roxas took that to be an agreement and nodded approvingly, then turned to eye the square again. There were still no Heartless around, and, having spoken with Sora, he was kind of disappointed not to have anything to fight. It was probably just as well, though; they needed more difficult enemies.

"Do you know anywhere that may have an enemy worth fighting?" Roxas asked, turning back to Sora again.

"No, but Leon might!" Sora perked up again and bounced on his heels. "Leon goes all over the place, so he usually knows where there's a fight to be found. He'll probably be in the Third District with Aerith and Yuffie. C'mon."

They jogged across the square. Sora got to the giant double doors leading to the Third District first, and burst through them with more energy than Roxas normally even put in to fighting. He had his keyblade in hand as he did so, and this turned out to be a good thing; before the door had finished swinging shut behind them, a strange flying Heartless was diving at them. Roxas only had a brief moment to admire the bat wings and wonder what the hell was on its head before he was forced to tuck himself into a roll to doge its downswing.

"Is that thing seriously wearing a helicopter hat?" Roxas called over to Sora as he straightened up. Sora let out a startled bark of laughter and swung at the creature as it swooped at him, then paused to give Roxas a glare. Roxas waved Oathkeeper at him jauntily, laughing, and watched as his brother made short work of the Heartless. Another one took its place, and Sora dispatched of that one as easily as the first before walking over to where Roxas had taken to leaning against a wall.

"Last time we were here, we had to fight this _huge_ Heartless," he said, pointing into the middle of the empty square. "It was so weird. It came in six pieces, right, two hands, two legs, a head and a body, and you had to destroy each piece one at a time. The thing almost killed us! We ended up getting everything but the body, and that piece just spun all around the square for ages, and then it would stop and sort of weave around like it was dizzy, and as soon as you got close to it it would start up again! And that was the second time it showed up!" Sora was practically flailing by the end of his impromptu speech, and had probably only stopped talking so he could pant for a little bit. He took a deep breath, Roxas sighed as he braced himself for Sora going on forever-

"The first time, the feet almost stomped them to the ground," a perfectly monotone voice said. Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin, and glared at the man that was emerging from a walkway behind Sora that he hadn't noticed, but Sora just grinned.

"Leon!" he squealed before spinning around and throwing his arms around the older man's waist. Roxas snickered. The man glared at him briefly (Roxas was unimpressed), glared down at Sora just as briefly, and then reached up to rub at the scar across the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Sora eventually released him, still grinning, and turned to flail at Roxas. "This is Leon!" Right. Roxas had gotten that. "He's totally awesome and I bet he knows where we need to go, right, Leon?" He spun around again to grin up the newcomer.

Leon stopped rubbing his scar long enough to give Sora an emotionless stare.

"Okay, so, this is my brother Roxas," Sora said as if in response to the look, reaching blindly behind him until he managed to catch Roxas' arm. Roxas allowed himself to be yanked forward. "He showed up in Twilight Town a couple days ago while Donald and Goofy and me were getting our butts kicked, and he jumped into the fight like the show-off he is, and then the next day he had a spar with Hayner and kicked his butt, so then he sparred with me and kicked _my_ butt, and now I'm out training because I need to stop getting my butt kicked and do you know where any good Heartless are?"

"...Don't you ever need to breathe?" Leon asked after an awkward pause.

"Have you ever heard of circular breathing?" Sora countered, grinning. "Leon, just tell us where to go! Roxas needs to stop kicking my butt!"

"It only happened once," Roxas said quietly, feigning humility. "It could have been a fluke."

Leon gave Roxas a long stare, eyebrows raised. Roxas looked right back at him, scowling; he could tell Leon was trying to judge him, and he didn't like it. After a long moment of them staring at each other, Leon finally shrugged and turned back to Sora.

"There might be something going on in the Jungle, if Cloud hasn't gotten to it yet," he said. "Otherwise I'd try The Land of Dragons. I've heard rumors that Mulan's been looking for help with something, but haven't heard anything concrete yet."

"Oooh, I haven't seen Ping in a while!" Sora flailed excitedly. "But let's go see Tarzan first, because they have these things that look like monkeys and they're really fast and I want to be as fast as Roxas."

"You'll never be as fast as I am, but we should give it a shot anyway."

"Stop by the house before you go," Leon interrupted. "Yuffie's been wondering when you'll stop by again. Don't tell me why."

Sora stuck his tongue out at Leon before saying goodbye and dragging Roxas across the square. Roxas was starting to wonder about Sora's fascination with dragging him everywhere—he was pretty sure he hadn't been nearly so clingy before. He supposed it was probably something about the three years since they'd seen each other. Still, despite his mild annoyance with being treated a little like a dog on a lead, he let Sora drag him around instead of pulling away as he usually would.

"Hello, Sora," a soft voice said as they reached the top of the stairs. A young woman was standing in the doorway of the house, smiling at them. Roxas was surprised to realize that he liked her almost immediately. For some reason she seemed to exude a calm, protective aura, and Roxas could tell that she wouldn't hurt them.

"Aerith!" Sora said brightly, bouncing in place as he finally let Roxas go. "We were in town and Leon told us we should come visit because Yuffie's been asking after me. What's she up to now?"

"Oh, you know Yuffie," Aerith replied softly. "She likes to plan mischief on Leon as much as possible. Something about getting him out of his shell more.

"Who's your friend?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Sora waved a hand in Roxas' direction. "This is my brother Roxas. He kind of randomly showed up a couple days ago, and made me realize that I'm not nearly as awesome as I thought I was. Aerith, he kicked my butt!"

"I'm pretty sure that's what brothers are for." She turned to Roxas with a much happier looking smile on her face, and held out a hand for him to shake. Roxas was surprised by how strong her handshake was, and quickly reevaluated his opinion of her. Especially once she granted him with a piercing gaze that seemed to look right through him. It was different from Leon's gaze: where he looked only to judge, Aerith seemed to use that judgement to accept you for who you were. "Why don't you two come in for cookies? I just finished making them a little while ago."

"COOKIES!" Sora shouted, running past her and bursting into the house. Aerith shook her head at his antics, but gestured for Roxas to enter as well. Roxas did so, giving her a thankful smile. He was just as excited about the cookies as Sora was, but preferred not to be as obnoxious about it. Aerith followed after him, closing the door gently behind them before leading Roxas to the kitchen. Sora was already there by the time they showed up, sprawled in a chair with a cookie in each hand and talking to a young girl who was sitting on the counter.

"Hi, Roxas!" the girl said, waving a cookie at him. "I'm Yuffie! Help yourself to the cookies!"

"Uh...hi, Yuffie," Roxas said a bit uncertainly as he made a beeline for the large pile of cookies sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. "Nice to meet you?"

"Yuffie's a terrible person," Sora informed Roxas seriously. "She's constantly trying to drive Leon nuts."

"Leon's _already_ nuts!" Yuffie protested. "I'm trying to fix him!"

"He doesn't seem like the type to want to be fixed," Roxas offered. "He's very...blank."

"Right, that's the problem." Yuffie was leaning so far forward Roxas was surprised that she didn't just fall off the counter. "He's got friends everywhere! We like to be with him! But he just sits there all grumpy and serious and boring."

"Some people like being grumpy and serious," Roxas pointed out to her.

"Yeah, well, some people are boring." Roxas rolled his eyes at her, and she rolled her eyes back at him before turning to Sora again. "So let me tell you my plan..."

* * *

A/N: Oh, Yuffie. What terrible fate do you have planned for Leon? And do your ninja skills _really_ allow you to outrun him?

Okay, I don't usually do this anymore buuuut...why am I not getting reviews? I see a fair amount of visitors, and a bunch of people have started following this story or have favorited it, but I didn't receive a SINGLE review for the last chapter. This makes me all kinds of sad. And, no, I'm NOT going to threaten to never post again because you don't leave reviews; I'm just asking that you spare a few moments to leave some comments about the story. Thanks! :)


	29. Chapter 29: A Storm in the Distance

A/N: Today, I had to make a decision: do I study for the test I have tomorrow that I'm ridiculously concerned about...or do I sit here and write fanfiction? Yeah, the decision was kind of a no-brainer.

Warnings: Remember how I've been saying Sora is ridiculous? Apparently it's catching.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I has all the sads.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Storm in the Distance_

"How the hell have I never heard of this place?" Roxas asked, looking around at the rich foliage surrounding them. He'd absolutely never seen a place so beautiful, neither Above nor Below, and couldn't believe it existed. It was actually a decent-sized island in the middle of the ocean—it had taken them almost an entire day to get there—and Roxas couldn't even begin to imagine where the gorilla family had come from, let alone the wild man. Still, they were all there, and seemed to be living quite happily together, so he figured he shouldn't ask too many questions.

"Roxas like?" Tarzan asked. His speech patterns were really annoying, but apparently he'd never learned to speak to anyone but gorillas before, so Roxas tried to ignore it.

"I love it!" he said with a grin. The grin widened as Tarzan smiled back at him. "I've never been anywhere like this before. I didn't even think something this untamed still existed."

"It really is quite lovely," an accented voice said as Jane finally climbed up to the treetops and stood beside Tarzan. "My father and I came to study the gorillas originally, and I'm afraid most of the jungle itself was ignored in favor of them at first, but there really isn't another place like it. Between the scenery and Tarzan, I just couldn't bear to go back to London."

"I don't blame you."

"I _told_ you you'd like it here," Sora said.

"I would have liked it better with a big Heartless to beat," Roxas teased back, and Sora laughed. "Yes, okay, I like it here. It's amazing. But we came here for a reason, you know, and those weird monkey-shaped Heartless are good for speed but not much else."

"Aw, but we've only been here for two days," Sora whined, pouting at Roxas. "We haven't even gotten to take the slide yet!"

"Don't you need to get back in time to sign up for the Struggle?" Roxas asked. "That's not going to happen if we hang around here playing games. We should leave in the morning."

"Oh, alright," Sora sighed, smiling apologetically at Jane and Tarzan. "I'm sorry, guys, we really do have to get moving. But I really want to stay!"

"Don't worry, Sora, we know you're always on the move." Jane smiled at both of them. "It was nice to be able to see you again. And it was very nice to meet you, Roxas."

"It was nice to meet you too," Roxas responded politely. He looked around the treetops one last time, then said: "We should probably get started down to the camp now."

"Shortcut," Tarzan said.

"Ooh, that's right!" Sora brightened considerably, and bounced over to an area that seemed exactly the same as any other area. "We can take the slide now!"

"I think I'm starting to feel worried about this slide you keep talking about," Roxas said dryly, following his brother through the leaves blocking their way. At the end of the branch, there was a sharp drop right into what looked like an empty tree trunk. "No, I take that back. I _am_ worried about this slide."

"Aw, it's fun," Sora protested. "Me and Tarzan take it all the time. It's a lot quicker than all that walking and climbing. You just have to remember when to duck. And jump. C'mon, I'll go first, and you can just do what I do!"

Roxas had his doubts about how fun this was going to be, but he didn't want to be shown up by his brother, so he just nodded and braced himself for the jump. Sora grinned at him brightly, way too pleased with Roxas' decision, then turned and jumped into the tree trunk. Roxas took a deep breath before jumping in after him.

It was a lot more fun than he'd been expecting.

Still, early the next morning, they got back into the gummi ship and took off again. Sora looked a little too sleepy to be driving the thing, but he'd listened to Roxas and asked Donald and Goofy to stay behind at Traverse Town, so Roxas didn't have much of a choice but to let Sora drive. He would have preferred to wait until Sora didn't look like he was going to fall asleep at the controls, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to get Sora to leave if they'd stayed any longer. Anyway, at least he didn't really have to worry about them crashing into anybody; not many other people had gummi ships.

"Land of Dragons is pretty close," Sora was saying, while at the same time trying to hide a yawn behind his hand. "We'll get there in a couple hours."

"Think we'll find anything worth fighting?"

"Man, I hope not." Sora's nose wrinkled in disgust. "I mean, I know I'm out here for training and everything, but the last time I had to fight a major Heartless in this place it was a dragon!"

"A dragon would be good," Roxas said thoughtfully. "If nothing else, it would be a good test of your dodging ability. And to see how flammable you are."

"Not as flammable as you'd think!" Sora replied, sticking his tongue out at Roxas. But as he turned back to the windows, an alarm went off. "Uh oh," he said.

"What uh oh?" Roxas asked, stepping a little closer to the controls, and peering at the displays. One of the windows seemed to show some sort of radar or something; there was a small formation of dots set behind a larger dot that Roxas assumed was them. "Are we being attacked? Who the hell is attacking us?"

"It's a Heartless fleet," Sora said soberly. "I hadn't seen one in a while, so I didn't think—go sit down and strap yourself in, would you?" He was already falling back into the driver's seat, pulling belts on without taking his eyes off the radar. Roxas didn't like this at all, but he obligingly went over to one of the other seats and strapped himself in as well, keeping a close eye on his brother. His normally bright features were darkened with concentration and determination, something in his eyes that Roxas had never seen before. This wasn't his goofy, friendly brother any longer; this was the fighter who had almost single-handedly taken down half of the Organization's strongest enemies.

"You okay?" Roxas asked quietly. Sora's head shot up in surprise, wide eyes taking in Roxas' concerned expression for a long moment before he smiled weakly.

"You're the only one who's ever asked me that," he said softly, but turned back to controlling the ship without actually answering the question.

Roxas wasn't surprised. That was one thing that was true about both of them, despite their differences: neither of them liked to admit a weakness to another. Not even to each other. Roxas knew everything about Sora though—or at least he had before he'd left—and that look meant that Sora was about to do something that he really didn't like to do. When they'd played video games together, Sora had loved and excelled at any of the games that required him to fly a spaceship and shoot things, but this was real life. Real life wasn't nearly as pretty as the games. Something had happened, that was for sure, but Roxas didn't push for an answer. When Sora wanted to share it, he would.

For now, though, he just sat back and waited for the battle to end. Sora controlled the gummi ship like a pro, flying circles around the Heartless ships as he effortlessly brought them down from the sky. Roxas actually quite enjoyed the battle, especially the explosions that he saw through the windows. It felt like he was on a ride. He had the feeling Sora wasn't quite enjoying it as much though.

"I hate fighting the Heartless in the ship," Sora said grumpily when the last blip disappeared off the radar. "I'm always afraid they'll attack over a town again, and... Well, last time nobody got hurt. But I can't always be that lucky."

"No, you can't," Roxas agreed slowly, eyeing his brother's downcast expression. Just thinking about something like that happening was killing him—there was no way his brother would get over actually accidentally killing someone. "But that was some awesome flying there!" he said, more brightly than he usually would in the hopes that it would help cheer Sora up. "I guess all those video games dad used to yell at us for playing were worth something after all, huh?"

The brightness in his voice seemed to do the trick; Sora perked up almost immediately, and went into a long spiel about the first time he'd flown the gummi ship, despite Donald's protests after he'd crashed them into the Jungle. (Because he was arguing with Donald, and it wasn't funny, and _stop laughing, Roxas_!)

Roxas was still chuckling as they exited the gummi ship some time later. He wanted to make a comment on Sora's perfectly good landing, but it must have shown on his face because Sora was already swatting at him. Roxas started swatting back. This turned into a slapping match (Sora won), which then turned into a wrestling match (Roxas won), which ended with them giggling in the dirt, still half tangled in each other.

Of course, this was how the army found them.

"Uh, Sora?" an uncertain voice said, and both Roxas and Sora looked up. Standing a couple feet away from them was a man decked out in full armor, staring at the two of them with a look that seemed stuck between confused and amused. And standing behind him was a _large_ group of people, also in armor, whose faces were definitely set on confused. "Are we interrupting something?"

"Roxas was making fun of me!" Sora pouted in response.

"I was not! You didn't give me a chance to!" Roxas protested, swatting at Sora again.

"You were _thinking_ it! I could see it in your eyes, you jerk!" Sora stuck his tongue out at him. Roxas returned the gesture.

"I hate to interrupt your bizarre courting ritual-"

"Ewwwww!" Sora and Roxas said at the same time.

"That's digusting-" Roxas said.

"He's my _brother_-" Sora added.

"—_disgusting_-"

"How could you even think that-"

"And who says 'courting ritual' anyway?"

The man was laughing as they finished, almost doubled over in his amusement, and even a few of the other guys who'd heard them had started snickering. Roxas crossed his arms and glared impartially at all of them. Sora crossed his arms and glared specifically at the first man.

"You're a jerk too, Shang," Sora said poutily. "I can't believe you'd say something like that!"

"Sorry, Sora," Shang said, not sounding very sorry at all. "But that's what it looked like on this end."

"Jerk," Sora sulked.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Have you heard what's happening?"

This seemed to get Sora's interest at least. "No, Leon just told us that he heard a rumor that something was going on, so here we are! Are we really going to get to fight something? Roxas has been really disappointed by his attempts to help me train so far!"

"There's Heartless attacking the Forbidden City again," Shang said soberly. Roxas finally tore his gaze from glaring at the rest of the men to give his attention to Shang. "It was just a small attack at first, but we've got news that there's a dragon down there. Mulan's trying to take care of it, but she needed backup..."

"We'll take care of it!" Sora said excitedly, jumping to his feet. "If there's really a dragon, your men will just get hurt, and you already lost enough of the army last time between the regular Heartless and the Huns..."

"My men have been very excited about this opportunity to defend the Land," Shang said disapprovingly.

"Then let them do the smart thing and take care of the small fry while we kill the dragon," Roxas suggested. He still hadn't gotten up from the ground, preferring to lounge for as long as he could. This probably explained the disbelieving looks he was getting from both Shang and his men.

"Just who do these boys think they are?" one of the men grumbled audibly.

"My name is Sora," Sora said proudly, straightening into his full (and unimpressive) height. Roxas was impressed by the way the men reacted to his name; the mocking looks disappeared almost instantly, and a few them were sharing surprised looks. Best of all, the men surrounding the man who'd made the comment were slowly shuffling away from him. "I fought beside Shang and Mulan in your last war, and it was my friends and I who defeated the first dragon. This," here he pointed down at the still-lounging Roxas, "is my brother Roxas, and the reason he can say things like that is that he's beaten me in every spar we've had since we met up again. We can take care of your dragon fine."

"We will do as Roxas suggested," Shang said, turning to look at his men. "None of us is prepared to fight a dragon; if we went up against it, some of us would not have survived. I know we were all prepared for the sacrifice, but there's no point in throwing ourselves to death if we can avoid it. We'll take care of the Heartless that would attack them from behind, or slip past them to make an assault on the Emperor. We will defend our city from the invaders!"

Roxas was surprised at the cheer that went up from the men at the end of Shang's little speech. He didn't think it sounded particularly impressive, but then he wasn't the one that had been going to war terrified of dying. Still, it seemed to get the men revved up, and none of them were staring at them anymore. They were chatting with each other, looking excited, and Shang was talking to Sora in a low voice, so Roxas shrugged and laid back down on the ground, staring at the sky. Sora would share any plans that needed to be shared.

"We're going to march with the army," Sora said a few minutes later, poking at Roxas' side with his toe. "Are you going to get up, or should we ask someone to carry you?"

"You mean you won't give me a piggyback ride?" Roxas asked, pretending to pout. Sora just laughed and offered him a hand up; Roxas took it and levered himself to his feet before starting to pat the dirt off of himself as they started walking. When he was done with himself, he reached out and started smacking at Sora's clothes as well, since he'd never done the same for himself.

"It's just_ dirt_, Rox," Sora laughed, but allowed Roxas to continue. "Oh, c'mon, we're marching and about to fight a dragon, do you really think now's the time to worry about looking clean?"

"It's bothering me, okay?" Roxas said grumpily. He had a feeling that the men following them were laughing at him. Shang, at least, seemed to be hiding his smile behind a hand. "Some of us stopped rolling around in the dirt on a regular basis a few years ago."

"Well, you've always been kind of boring." Sora yelped when Roxas smacked him a little harder than necessary at the comment. Shang, he noted, had let out a snort, but was still trying to hide his smile. Roxas sent him a brief, half-hearted glare, and then turned back to Sora and ruffled his hair. Dirt went flying.

"You need a shower," Roxas informed him.

"Yes, mother," Sora snarked back. "I'll take one as soon as I'm done killing this Heartless and saving the world, okay?" Roxas smacked him again, but stopped trying to smack the dirt off of him. Sora still had some clinging to him in _some_ places, but they were places that Roxas was not willing to put his hand, so he figured he'd let it be. Hopefully it would fall off as they were walking.

* * *

A/N: Man, I forgot how lame this ending is. Oh well. At least things are getting interesting again?

Thanks for the reviews last chapter! Now just keep 'em coming, okay? ;)


	30. Chapter 30: Hands are Distant Lullabies

A/N: This probably would have gone up a week or two ago, but I had ALL THE TESTS last week and didn't have time to work on anything but school. But now it is spring break! So here is a chapter. Possibly there will be another chapter at the end of the week, depending on whether or not I lose another day of productivity to a migraine.

Warnings: Sad ending (to the chapter!) is sad. And Roxas is crazy. Crazy, I say!

Disclaimer: IT'S MINE IT'S ALL MINE. (Insert evil cackling here.) ((There is actually no evil cackling because I'm coughing instead. I blame all the parmesan cheese. I knew there was a reason I usually avoided it...))

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirty: Hands are Distant Lullabies_

The dirt hadn't fallen off by the time they reached the Forbidden City, but when Roxas caught sight of the dragon sitting on top of the castle, smoke curling up from its nostrils, he wasn't too bothered by it any longer. The dragon glared at the army as it approached, but seemed otherwise disinterested. Roxas wasn't entirely certain this one was a Heartless; it seemed to actually be thinking, for one thing, and it didn't look as if it had sensed the keyblades they were carrying.

"That's no Heartless," Sora said flatly, echoing Roxas' thoughts. "It would be at least trying to get our hearts if it was, not just...sitting there. Staring at us. I think it's debating whether we're worth eating or not."

"Heartless or not, we should get moving before it decides we _are_ worth eating," Roxas pointed out. "I'm not feeling too confident about fighting on top of that building, though. How do we get it down?"

Shang didn't say anything, but he did point down to the dark square in front of the gates of the castle. It was absolutely seething with low-level Heartless, all of which were converging on the gates surrounding the castle. Roxas wondered what was keeping them from breaking in, but after a moment's thought he figured that the home of the Emperor would be guarded with magic powerful enough to keep him as safe as possible. Besides that, there were two figures at the gate keeping the monsters at bay; one was a tiny dragon that was blowing fire on them, the other a girl fighting with both sword and magic. But as they watched, one of her spells fizzled and she stumbled against the gate for a brief moment when a particularly large Heartless attacked her.

"We need to get down there!" Sora said breathlessly, but Roxas was already ahead of him. Before Sora had even opened his mouth, he had started the run down the hill, calling his keyblades to him. The Heartless in his way fell before him with single hits of his weapon, but when he reached the beginning of the full mass, he leapt into the air, calling the light to him. For a long moment, it seemed to hold him mid-air, but then he fell into their midst. As he hit the ground, the light exploded silently away from him, flinging Heartless in every direction.

When the light died, he took a moment to breathe and grin at the destruction around him. That had been one of Axel's moves, originally, and on normal opponents, it worked better with his ridiculous control of fire. But now, fighting creatures made of darkness, light was clearly superior. He only wished Axel had been here to see it.

Shrugging the thought off, he ran through the disoriented masses, killing as he went, until he reached the girl. Once he'd taken care of the Heartless surrounding her, he pulled out a Potion and handed it over. She took it shakily, staring wide-eyed at him.

"Drink it," Roxas suggested.

"Who _are_ you?" the girl asked in response. She didn't look like she had any intention of drinking the Potion until he explained.

"Roxas," he said shortly. "I'm with Sora. Are you going to drink that, or do you just want me to take care of these things by myself?"

"Sora's a lot nicer than you are," she informed him, but did as he said. By the time she was done, the Heartless had gathered again, but they didn't attack right away. They seemed to be waiting for something, even though they were shifting impatiently with their eyes focused on Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Roxas pondered this for only a second—could the dragon actually be controlling these Heartless?—and then shrugged. They'd be easier to kill if they weren't fighting.

With that thought, he promptly leapt back into their midst. He didn't use his previous move again (it felt like cheating), but the things still fell before him far too easily. He could hear the girl by the gate still, taking out anything that made it by him; in the opposite direction he could hear the army and Sora destroying the other side of the horde that hadn't gotten to them yet.

Killing all of the Heartless only took a few minutes, but Roxas was still panting by the end of it. The army still found some breath to let out a ragged cheer, though, and when Sora walked up to Roxas, he was grinning. Roxas smirked back at him, then turned to look up at the dragon again. It was sitting exactly as they'd left it, but Roxas could swear it was smiling.

"You're bleeding," Sora said. Roxas didn't jump, but he did turn to his brother with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't even noticed he'd gotten hit by something, but he _did_ feel it when Sora poked at his side. "It looks bad. Are you okay?"

"I was fine until you poked me!" Roxas snapped, slapping Sora's arm before pulling out a Potion for himself and drinking it. By the time he'd finished that, the girl had walked over to them and been pulled into a hug by Shang, and Sora had lost interest to smile goofily at them. Roxas rolled his eyes and poked him.

"Why'd you do that?" Sora whined, poking him back.

Thankfully, Sora's voice seemed to pull Shang and the girl out of their own world, and they both walked over. The girl bowed deeply to him.

"Thank you for coming to my assistance," she said formally. "I thank you also on behalf of the Emperor, who had tasked me with the protection of his home. I will be sure to inform him of your deeds."

"Uh...don't worry about it," Roxas said uncertainly, scratching awkwardly at the back of his head. "You needed help, and that's what we were on our way to do anyway..."

The girl looked up and smiled at him, eyes twinkling. "Maybe Sora isn't so much nicer than you after all," she said. "His reasoning for helping us before was exactly the same."

"It must be a family trait," Shang added. "Er, did you guys introduce each other yet?" The girl and Roxas both gave him the same disbelieving look. "Guess not. Uh, Roxas, this is Mulan, my girlfriend and the savior of the Land of Dragons. Mulan, this is Roxas, Sora's brother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mulan said, bowing again. Roxas bowed back, figuring it was the polite thing to do, but when he straightened up, he turned back to the dragon again. The others followed his example, staring at the dragon that was staring at them.

"What the heck is it doing?" Sora asked. "You'd think it would have attacked us by now."

"Maybe it's afraid?" Shang suggested hopefully.

"I don't think so," Roxas said slowly. "I think it's waiting for something. Shang, you should get your men out of here while you still can. Keep them in the hills. I don't want them to get in the way when that thing comes down."

"I'm staying," Mulan said abruptly, looking ready to argue if Roxas or Sora said otherwise. Roxas had expected that, considering how determinedly she'd fought the Heartless, but Sora was looking a bit uncertain. Not wanting Sora to say something stupid, he gave him a sharp jab in the side to shut him up.

"Take another Potion before anything happens," Roxas suggested. "And an Ether. I have a feeling this thing only wants to fight us.

"What makes you say that?" Sora asked curiously.

"It could have killed Mulan easily," Roxas began slowly. "Or it could have swept down while we were fighting those Heartless and killed a good deal of the army before we could do anything. Hell, it could have come down and grabbed me in midair while I was showing off—but it didn't. It just sat there and watched us the entire time."

"So you think it'll attack once the army's gone?"

"Maybe. While they're leaving, we should try to get through the gate. Mulan's here to protect the Emperor, right? She should probably focus on getting to the castle in case any of the Heartless got inside."

"The gate's locked," Mulan said. "And all of the doors will be as well. I _can_ get into the palace once we're through the gate, but I don't have a key..."

Sora and Roxas shared a long look. They could get through the gate easily—the keyblade was a fun weapon to wield—but not many people were aware of that ability. Roxas, as a matter of course, didn't want to share any abilities that didn't need to be shared; Sora just had a habit of downplaying the Keyblade as much as possible.

"I'll get it," Sora sighed after a long while, raising his blade. As the light shot from the tip of the keyblade, the dragon rose. Roxas watched it as it stretched like a cat, clawing at a tower and knocking large pieces of it to the ground. Once that was done, it jumped into the air, wings spread to their fullest extent before flapping a couple times to keep the dragon aloft. It still seemed to be smiling at them. If Roxas didn't know any better, he'd say it was pleased by what they had done, but that didn't make any sense—unless—

Roxas knocked the Keyblade out of Sora's hands, and the light stopped. The gates to the palace were still locked tight.

"Roxas, what—?" Sora started to ask, but didn't get to finish before an ear-shattering roar split the sky. It was a grotesque sound; it went straight to the bones, making them rattle in your skin; it went to your brain, freezing it in fear; it went to your heart, stopping it for a long moment before it started again far faster than normal. Mulan had her hands over her ears, eyes screwed shut against the pain. Sora was almost doubled over, both hands over his heart as if he was trying to keep it in. But Roxas stood tall, hands gripping his weapons painfully, and fought the power that was screaming to him to yield.

When the roar ended, the dragon finally flew down to them, landing with a thump that shook the ground. Sora stumbled a bit, but held his feet, and straightened up to glare at it. Mulan already had her sword in hand, but her face was still tightened in pain.

"That was a wise move, boy," the dragon said, leaning its face down to bare its fangs at Roxas. "It has been a long time since there has been a keyblade bearer not blinded entirely by the light."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Roxas asked the dragon. He was trying really hard not to be thrown off by it talking to him, but it was difficult; he'd never even heard of a Summon speaking, let alone a beast like this one. But dragons, real dragons, were said to be nearly sentient. Roxas thought they might need to take out the "nearly" part.

"You are heartless," the dragon hissed in response. "You fight with passion and honor, but with no remorse for the hearts you have destroyed. Do you understand what they are fighting for? What they desire?"

"The Heartless are monsters!" Sora interrupted. "They're only the darkness of hearts given form, and when we kill them we're only releasing them to the Kingdom, where they're meant to be. Why would anyone feel remorse for that?"

The dragon roared again, briefly this time, but all three of the humans in front of it still flinched backwards.

"There is no death for something that's not whole," it growled. "No death for something that's not alive! You don't understand what it means to be separated for eternity, to have no hope of being complete again—"

"It's a Nobody," Roxas breathed. Sora shot him a brief, surprised look, then turned back the dragon with wide eyes. "Sora, the Heartless you killed before—"

The dragon interrupted with what could only be a laugh. It was a high, wild sound that made the heart scream, and it lasted much longer than the second roar. By the end of it, even Roxas was clutching at his chest.

"My heart!" the dragon screeched. "My only chance at life, lost to the Kingdom! Lost to the Keyblade!" It looked back down at them again, baring it's teeth as the smoke flaring from its nostrils thickened. "You, Keyblade Master, you have lost your heart, but it came back to you, as you always knew it would. Let's see how you fare when that option is no longer available to you!"

The tail came out of nowhere, swinging faster than Roxas could dodge and throwing him away from the other two. He could swear he actually bounced off the ground at one point before skidding the rest of the way, and he lay dazed on the ground. His mind wandered briefly back to the dragon he and Axel had run from, and the way it had slammed his boyfriend into the ground. That hadn't been a good moment for either of them.

Pushing the memory out of his mind, he slowly sat up and shook his head to clear it. The dragon seemed to think it had gotten rid of him with that one swipe, since it was fully focused on Sora and Mulan, so Roxas took his time drinking a couple Potions as he watched the battle. Sora and Mulan seemed to be holding their own pretty well. In fact, Sora had somehow managed to get on the thing's back, and he was running along it in an attempt to get to its head. It looked kind of silly, but at least the distraction was giving Mulan time to drink a Potion of her own before shooting some dangerous-looking flames into the dragon's eyes.

Roxas watched them for long moment before sighing and shaking his head. They were whittling down its defenses, but far too slowly. If they didn't take it down soon, the thing was going to get smart—

Sora went flying through the air, but flipped midway and landed by Mulan. A second later, the dragon took a deep breath and spewed flames over both of them. Neither of them fell entirely to the ground, but they were dazed enough that they didn't look up when the dragon reared back to stomp them into the ground. Roxas was _pretty_ sure that both of them would recover just in time to roll out of the way, but he didn't think it was a good idea to take any chances.

Of course, the moment Roxas called Oathkeeper and Oblivion to him, the dragon took notice of the bright light and changed direction. Unfortunately for the dragon, this time Roxas was expecting the attack, and this time the tail's swing didn't send him flying-at least, not in the wrong direction. He grabbed onto it, fingers digging underneath a few scales, and used the leverage from the swing to leap until the dragon's back where Sora had recently been. He called the light to himself once again, enough light that both of his keyblades were practically glowing, and once he was at the dragon's head he let it out in a large burst. The dragon screeched with rage, thrashing about in pain, and Roxas jumped from its back before he could be flung off. Sora and Mulan had recovered just enough to get out of the way of the beast's wild swings, and both of them were staring in wonder at what he'd done.

"You need to stop showing off!" Sora had to yell to be heard above the dragon's screams. "I'm going to get a complex!"

"It's not my fault you suck!" Roxas yelled back, sliding to a halt between his two companions. "Any ideas how to kill this thing?"

"Not a clue!" Sora stared at the dragon, who was thrashing a little less at this point; Roxas knew the pain hadn't gone away yet, but he imagined its vision was starting to clear, so he began pulling in the light again. "Its Heartless wasn't really anything special! We just sort of hacked at it until it died!"

"That'll take too long!" Roxas snarled, thinking furiously. This would have been a nice time to have Axel, Xaldin, or even Xigbar at his side. All three of them had long distance weapons that would have pierced the dragon's hide with next to no problem. But he had to make do with what he had here: three keyblades, and Mulan's army-issue sword. "I don't suppose either of you has any control over wind magic?" At their negative responses, he heaved what was probably an overdramatic sigh.

"I can kind of fly, though!" Sora added a little hesitantly. "I mean, it's more like a glide, but if I could get enough speed to begin with..."

Roxas couldn't help but grin. Sora looked a little nervous almost immediately, backing away slightly and giving Roxas an extremely concerned look. Roxas didn't react to the look at all; what he did was turn and grab Sora by the arms. "Aim well!" he yelled and, using the strength that his magic gave him, pulled Sora off his feet and hurled him at the dragon.

"You are _insane_!" Mulan yelled at him, staring at him with such astonishment that Roxas started laughing. He really hoped he'd get to see Axel and Demyx again some day, without either of them trying to kill him for leaving the Organization—both of them would have absolutely loved this moment. But neither of them were here, so he was stuck with Mulan looking horrified as Sora slammed into the dragon keyblade-first. Roxas' move had done the trick, though; the wound was deep enough that the dragon's eyes rolled into the back of its head and it fell to the ground with an earth-shaking sound.

It was still alive, though. Roxas watched as it breathed heavily and Sora leaned forward as if to listen to something it was saying. Curiosity peaked, Roxas jogged over to him, but wasn't in time to hear its last words.

"What did it say?" he asked Sora curiously. Sora didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to silently stare at the carcass with a look that was both confused and immeasurably sad. "...Sora?"

"It said that the keyblade could have restored its heart," Sora said quietly. "That a real Keyblade Master brought light to the darkness, and put the shattered ones back together." He took a deep breath and gave Roxas a mournful look. "Do you think that's true?" he asked, voice even quieter than before. "I was told that the Heartless were beings of darkness that needed to be destroyed, and that's what I've been doing. Was I supposed to be saving them all along?"

Without a word, Roxas pulled his brother into a tight hug. He didn't have an answer; he hardly knew anything about the Heartless as it was. But he thought of the members of the Organization, of what he suspected they were, and found himself thinking that the dragon had been right.

And if it was, Roxas thought, closing his eyes as if that could keep him from having the idea, then he had no idea how he was going to help Sora get over what he'd done.

* * *

AN: A note on the dragon's appearance: I definitely didn't have the Heartless that was actually fought in the game in mind when I wrote the scene. It's pretty much supposed to look like a generic Western dragon. This is because I don't actually like the design of the dragon in the game. Heh.

So anyway, THANK YOU EVERYONE for the reviews and favorites and whatnots. I'm glad some people are returning to the story. Hopefully this time I won't start disappearing between chapters again.


	31. Chapter 31: Still Running In Place

A/N: End of the week, a few weeks later...what's the difference? (Seriously, though, school is kicking my butt. It's really quite frustrating.)

Warnings: Nooothing. Well, except Donald being his usual irritating self. (Look, I don't like Donald, okay? Don't judge me.)

Disclaimer: I own approximately nothing you see here. Maybe you could consider a couple of the words mine, but that's probably pushing it...

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirty-One: Still Running in Place_

"I need a vacation," Sora muttered, punctuating the statement with a huge yawn. "You have no idea how glad I am to be back here. Maybe I'll take a nap..."

"Sora!" several voices yelled as if on cue, and Roxas sighed along with his brother. He'd been thinking about taking a nap as well. Not for the relaxation, though. Just to get some time alone, a chance to think about something besides training his brother. It had already been nearly two weeks since he'd shown up, and he hadn't been sleeping well for any of it. Oh well. Maybe he'd get a chance after whatever disaster this was going to turn out to be.

"Thank Hyne you're back!" Olette gasped, skidding to a stop in front of them. "There's trouble—the mansion—!"

"Breathe, Olette," Roxas said gently. "I'm pretty sure the trouble will still be there if you pause for a few seconds."

"The trouble still being there _is_ the problem!" Hayner objected. "There's an infestation in the mansion. Donald and Goofy went to check it out _ages_ ago, and they haven't gotten back."

"Think they're in trouble?" Roxas asked curiously.

"It's Donald and Goofy," Sora sighed back. "Of course they're in trouble. Sometimes I think they're worse than I am."

"Is that possible?" Roxas teased gently, and chuckled at the disgruntled look he received. "C'mon, let's get over there. The faster we take care of this, the faster you get your nap."

"You're not allowed to show off again," Sora informed him seriously after thanking Hayner and Olette for the information. "I'm supposed to be the Keyblade Master here. It's my job to show off!"

"It's hardly my fault I'm constantly having to save your butt," Roxas said as snottily as he could. "I'm starting to think the Keyblade chose the wrong Master. Anyway, how can there only be one Keyblade Master? There's three of them between the two of us."

"Yes, but mine's _special_," Sora replied smugly, waving around his blade to make his point. Roxas had to give him that, at least; he'd tried using one of Sora's many keychains on Oathkeeper, but it had stubbornly remained the same. "And don't even try to tell me that two blades are better than one."

"There's no need to be so bitter about it, you know." Roxas would have continued teasing Sora, but he'd just caught sight of what had to be the tail end of the Heartless horde that had taken over the mansion. They were sidling out from the hole in the wall a couple at a time, looking around the empty square. They seemed confused by the bright sunlight and the lack of people, but they homed in on the two keyblade wielders with alacrity.

"...Where are the guys?" Sora asked eventually, not really paying the Heartless any mind. "I thought they'd be keeping the Heartless from getting to town."

"Maybe they're already inside," Roxas suggested slowly. "Maybe there were less Heartless before, but once they were inside..."

"We need to get through!"

"Yes, I suppose we do," Roxas sighed. "But seeing as I'm not allowed to show off again, you'd better do something quick."

Sora gave him a dirty look, then turned to the Heartless with his hands on his hips. "Well, _normally_ I'd have Donald and Goofy to help out," he said pointedly, "but I suppose I can figure something out."

"Impress me."

Sora stuck his tongue out at him, then took a deep breath as he turned back to the Heartless. A few of them had gotten closer, and Sora dispatched them almost dispassionately, before taking a running leap into the midst of the large group seething immediately in front of the wall. Roxas could just barely feel the shockwave from where he was standing, but it still made him grin. Had Sora been holding back on him?

As he watched, he decided that definitely wasn't the case. Much like in their fight at Traverse Town, Sora seemed to be outright enjoying the battle, and was taking down the Heartless with a flair that hadn't been present in his spar with Roxas. But this time Roxas found himself able to watch his brother without distraction. He was _good_ at fighting a large group of enemies, almost ridiculously good; he seemed to have a second sense as to when one was going to attempt an attack from behind and, though he did take a couple hits, he took far less than Roxas had expected. He could clearly read the Heartless. So what had gone wrong in their spar?

And, on top of that, Sora was apparently a mage; Roxas hadn't noticed before with all of the little elemental Heartless fluttering around, but he used as much magic as they did. He had nothing like Axel's or Celes' control—maybe that was just how mage magic worked?—but it was pretty impressive for being so basic. It certainly seemed to tear through the Heartless, at least, and they were defeated far more quickly than Roxas had expected.

When he was done, Sora turned to him with a victorious grin, resting his keyblade on his shoulder.

"Okay, you're better than I thought," Roxas conceded as he walked over. "Now let's get in there and see what we can do for your friends."

Sora saluted him sloppily with the keyblade, then spun around and practically dove into the seething mass on the other side of the wall. Roxas slid in behind him, called his own blades to himself, and fell smoothly into the rhythm of battle.

"Are these things ever going to stop coming?" he snarled a few minutes later, blasting through a group that looked like they were actually about to get smart enough to jump him all at once. "I think we need to get through to the mansion itself!" he called over to Sora after a moment's thought. "I'm starting to think these damn things are just a distraction!"

"Well, do your trick again, then!" Sora called back.

"Not gonna work nearly as well!" Roxas called back, thinking furiously. It had worked fine because there'd been a limited amount of Heartless at the palace, but if both he and Sora wanted to make it through this particular horde...

"You have a plan?" Sora asked once Roxas had fought his way over.

"Yeah, as soon as I'm done talking, I want you to stop fighting, grab my hand, and _close your eyes_. I can run through them with my magic, but it'll probably blind you, so don't even think about opening them, okay?" Once Sora nodded, he turned in the direction of the mansion, and dropped Oblivion. Holding Oathkeeper out in front of him, he gathered some light around the blade until it glowed and the Heartless backed off a little. Then, once he felt Sora's hand fall into his own, he allowed the light to explode, and watched with grim satisfaction as several of the nearest Heartless evaporated. The rest of them at least stopped moving forward, and, once Roxas started running, they started scrabbling almost desperately away from him. The ones who didn't move fast enough went the way of the first few that had been closest to them.

Roxas imagined that, if they could be looked at from a distance, the two of them must look sort of look a shooting star, which was a pleasant thought, but the sheer amount of magic he was using to do this was draining. It was a good thing they'd already gotten about halfway through the copse of woods, because he wasn't entirely certain he'd be able to blast his way through the whole thing.

"Holy shit," Sora panted once they had come to a halt just inside of the gates, an area the Heartless apparently weren't interested in occupying. "That was the most ridiculously amazing piece of magic I have _ever_ seen!"

"You haven't seen anything," Roxas said, pulling out an Ether, and drinking it so he could pretend not to see the curious look on Sora's face. Because what he'd done wasn't fancy; even after three years, he wasn't actually all that great at fancy. Give him a pair of swords and something to whack at any day. But Axel, Axel had been breathtaking. It wasn't just his power that was amazing, it was his control; he could coax his element into shapes that it wouldn't normally take, and would do so often when he was bored. But it was in fights that he really shined, chakram on fire as he all but danced amongst his enemies.

Hyne, but he missed Axel. He should go back, just to see him. Even viewing him from a distance would be better than this.

"Earth to Roxas, come in Roxas!" Sora said suddenly, knocking at the side of Roxas' head and knocking his thoughts completely off track. "Man, what are you thinking of when you go off in your head like that? Did you leave a girl behind?"

"No," Roxas replied, a little too fast. Obviously he hadn't left a girl behind, but Sora was disappointingly on the right track. "Just...a lot's happened in the past few years, okay?"

Sora clearly wanted to probe further, but was cut off by a call of "Sora!" from the direction of the mansion. They both looked over to see Donald and Goofy come bursting out of the mansion doors towards them.

"You're all right!" Sora yelled, immediately running over to them. He grabbed Goofy's hands and the two of them danced around in a circle. Roxas shared a disbelieving look with Donald for a brief moment until the duck seemed to remember the argument they'd had before Roxas had left with Sora. "I was so worried when Hayner said you guys'd been gone forever, why didn't you wait for us to get back?"

"Donald said we didn't need your help!" Goofy offered, ignoring the huff Donald gave. "But I kinda think we should've waited and got that keychain we were talkin' about..."

Donald huffed again, but said, "He's right; we're just not getting anywhere here without that key. None of us are strong enough with fire magic, but Bond of Flame should fix that problem."

"Aw, and after we fought through all those Heartless to get here?" Sora protested, frowning in Roxas' direction. "You should have _seen_ the magic Roxas used to get through them, it can't be healthy for him to do that so much!"

"I think I can handle doing that at least one more time," Roxas said blandly. Really, that type of magic wasn't difficult, it just took a hell of a lot of power to hold. "If you guys want to go get that blade now, I don't mind running through the horde again. At least this time it won't matter if we all get through at the same time."

"But we don't really _need_ it, do we?" Sora asked Donald imploringly. "Roxas' magic is really strong, and ice is susceptible to light, isn't it? Light gets hot."

"Hmph!" Donald grumped, turning away from Sora with his arms crossed. "You can go ahead and let your brother do everything for you if you want, but a _real_ Keyblade Master would fight his own battles!"

"Aww, Donald, don't be like that," Goofy said before Roxas could follow through with the urge to strangle the irritating duck. "Sora just doesn't want his brother to get hurt!" He gave Roxas a wink, then turned to Sora. "I think we should go get the Bond," he offered to the brunette. "I dunno if we'll need it, but you gotta get as powerful as you can, don't you? It'll make things easier."

"Welllll, okay," Sora said finally, still hesitant. Roxas ignored his concerns and started back towards the woods. "But since the Heartless aren't on this side _or_ the other side, Roxas, don't you show off again! We'll meet at the gummi ship, okay?"

{{{{{:}}}}}

Roxas couldn't help the scowl that appeared on his face as they finally touched down in front of the caves where Sora's new keychain was apparently hidden. He'd been here with Axel once, years ago now, and he could still feel the exhaustion and anger from their grand escape. And here he was again, staring at the Phoenix Caves and wondering how life had managed to deal him this strange coincidence.

"Something wrong, Roxas?" Sora asked him curiously as they disembarked and Roxas' scowl deepened. "You look like you don't like this place."

"I've been here before," Roxas said shortly. "My partner and I were looking for something, and had run out of supplies before we got to the dragon at the end."

"There's a _dragon_ at the end?" Sora asked with a sigh. "I'm getting sick of dragons. I've seen way too many of them in the past few years."

"Yeah, well, you're the one all gung-ho about this keychain of yours."

"Not all of us can count on spectacular light shows to fight our battles for us," Sora teased him. "Some of us like to participate in _real_ fights."

"Yet somehow I can still kick your ass."

"Would you two start moving?" Donald yelled back to them. He and Goofy were already about to walk into the cave mouth, and he was tapping a foot impatiently as he glared back at them. Goofy looked significantly more patient, and even gave them a cheerful little wave. "We need to get back before the Heartless overrun the town!"

"Doesn't he ever get on your nerves?" Roxas asked Sora curiously as they picked up the pace in order to catch up to the two Disneans. "He's awfully bossy."

"He's a nice guy, really," Sora protested. "He and Goofy are probably the only reason I'm still alive right now, and I've practiced my magic with him a lot when I wasn't able to go to Merlin..."

"He's still the crankiest guy I've ever met," Roxas said decisively, grinning as Sora chuckled. "I don't suppose you're able to silence people, are you? I bet that'd really come in handy."

Almost as if to prove his words, the sound of Donald's yelling could be heard as they approached the cave entrance, and both Sora and Roxas sighed almost in unison. They took their time getting to where the other two were, Roxas for one hoping that the yelling would die out before they got there, but he was out of luck. Donald's voice was just getting louder, and somebody else was just starting to yell back as they slid into the room. Sora somehow managed to slide right into Goofy's back, and the two fell over, which in turn caused Donald to turn and start squawking at the two of them instead of at the people he'd been yelling at.

Roxas smirked as he discovered the reason _why_ Donald had been yelling: a large icicle was melting at the bottom of his beak as he talked. His gaze then finally turned to the other two people in the cavern, and the smirk dropped instantly from his face as he caught their surprised gazes.

This was turning out to be a really bad day.

* * *

A/N: Who could possibly have shown up to make Roxas so unhappy? Well, maybe there's a better question to be asked here: who could possibly have shown up who _wouldn't_ make Roxas unhappy at this point? Heh.


	32. Chapter 32: How Much Can You Fake?

A/N: Here, have a chapter. I'm going to go crawl up in a corner and pass out. (School is hard, guys. So hard.) Also my internet connection at home is, uh...really spotty? And I'm updating this at school when I ought to be studying for my calculus final. Sooooo pretty much unless my connection magically fixes itself, there won't be another update until my summer session starts up in July and I can get to the school's wifi again. Feh.

Warnings: ...Nothing? Not that I can think of anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, because I fail at the universe. I has all the sads.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirty-Two: How Much Can You Fake?_

"Relax, Donald," Roxas said. "I'm pretty sure Celes didn't actually mean to freeze you, though I honestly wouldn't blame her if she did."

"Oh, are you guys friends?" Sora asked brightly. Locke snorted, which earned him an elbow in the side from Celes.

"Friends is pushing it a bit," Celes said softly. "We met a few years ago and had a little adventure together, but we haven't talked since. Although Terra tells me you showed up at the orphanage the other day, Roxas. Something about your brother?"

"Yeah, I thought he was in trouble," Roxas replied, then waved a hand vaguely in Sora's direction. "Turns out he was doing fine, although I _have_ had to save his butt a few times."

"Look, not all of us have this show-off complex you seem to have developed," Sora replied loftily. "Anyway, you're the one that's been dragging me around all over the place watching me fight things."

"You're the one who decided he need to train!" Roxas countered, crossing his arms and glaring at Sora. "You only have yourself to blame."

"Nobody asked you for the correct version of the story!"

Their argument was interrupted by Celes clearing her throat, and he and Sora turned to glare at her in unison. Celes shot Roxas a brief, bemused half-smile. "So what brings you back here right now, Roxas?" she asked pointedly.

"Sora's looking for an addition to his weapon," Roxas replied shortly. "What brings _you_ here?"

"We've taken to coming back every year to see if we can take the dragon down yet," Locke said, glaring at Roxas. "There hasn't really been much going on that lets us keep our abilities up, but that damn thing gets us every time. Starting to wish we hadn't let you and Axel keep that first magicite."

Roxas nearly winced at the mention of Axel, but pointed out: "He killed it, that means he got to keep it. Anyway, he gave it to me, remember? Not that I've bothered using it much."

"Wait, who's Axel?" Sora asked curiously. Roxas stared at him for a long moment. "Roxas?"

"...My partner," Roxas finally said, turning away from everyone and starting to walk deeper into the caves. "We're not going to talk about him."

"Ooh, you _meant_ it when you said you didn't leave a girl behind, didn't you?" Sora asked teasingly, then sighed when Roxas didn't respond. "Why won't you tell me anything about what you've been up to? Was it that bad?"

"It wasn't bad at all," Roxas answered softly, determinedly not looking at Sora. "It's just that a lot happened, and the people I left behind were the closest thing I had to a family after I left. And Axel was...my best friend."

"You don't have to stay," Sora said so quietly Roxas almost couldn't hear him. What he could hear clearly was Sora's hesitance at saying that; he could all but feel the sadness his brother must feel at the idea of losing him again so soon. "I mean, I can take care of myself."

Roxas smiled bitterly at the air in front of him. "Sora, I left for you. I couldn't go back even if I wanted to. The people I was with won't welcome back someone who left without a word."

"What about your friend?"

Roxas actually laughed at the question. It wasn't a very _nice_ laugh, and Sora winced at the sound of it, but it was still a laugh. Because there was one thing he'd just realized, something that he should have known the moment he made the decision to walk away from the Organization: "He'll show up," he said simply and, no matter how Sora poked at him for more information, he refused to say anything else.

"So that's the thing that had you running off before?" Sora asked curiously as they peeked into the last cavern that Roxas was familiar with. The dragon was coiled around itself at the far end, right in front of the room that it must have come bursting out of before. It actually seemed quite peaceful at the moment; smoke was drifting out of its nostrils almost lazily, and a deep rumbling sound filled the area. "Is it actually snoring? I didn't know dragons snored."

"It still looks kinda dangerous," Goofy added, looking over Sora's head to stare at the dragon himself. "Are ya sure you don't need our help?"

"I think we'll be fine," Roxas said confidently. "And the whole point of wandering around before was to get Sora some training; I don't see any reason to stop now."

"Except for the part where that thing kicked yours and Axel's butts before?" Locke asked with a smirk that didn't fade even when Roxas turned a glare on him. "Look, I'm just saying, you guys _barely_ made it back to the ship. You sure you want to take it on without all the help you can get?"

"The only reason we ran is because we were out of supplies and _somebody_ decided to abandon us," Roxas reminded him acidly.

"Say what?" Sora asked, nearly knocking Goofy over as he spun back into the cavern they were in to frown at Locke and Celes. "That's terrible!"

"Leave it alone, Sora," Roxas said tightly, already sorry that he'd said anything. Sora's frown turned to him, but he waved it off impatiently; he wasn't so much mad about Celes and Locke abandoning him before as he was about Locke's insistence on teasing him about losing to the dragon because of it. Honestly, he couldn't really blame the other two for running off like that. Not with what he and Axel were. "It's ancient history. What we need to be focusing on is what we can do to kill the dragon _now_, without Goofy's or Donald's help."

"What about the Summon?" Celes asked curiously. "Do you think it might be strong enough to kill it in one shot?"

"I don't know," Roxas said slowly, thinking about how easy it had seemed for Axel to kill the Summon before. Granted, Axel was absolutely the strongest fire elemental he'd ever seen, but he'd have thought it would take more than one super-powered attack to destroy it anyway. "It didn't strike me as being that strong, really. I don't want to leave myself open to an attack if it doesn't work, and that thing moves fast. I'd rather try fighting it with attacks I'm more comfortable with."

"What, you think we'd just leave you to die if it didn't hit?" Locked asked, sounding offended.

"I'm not about to trust you any more than you trust me," Roxas countered simply.

"_Boys_," Celes said sharply, cutting into the argument before it could actually start. Locke grinned sheepishly, but Roxas didn't respond except to raise an eyebrow at her. She sighed and shook her head, then gestured to Roxas' keyblades. "We'll compromise. Roxas and I can hit it with a combined ice attack to disable it temporarily, and the two of you will come up from behind."

"You're taking all the fun out of this," Roxas said.

"_Fun_?" Locked asked disbelievingly.

"What, you mean that's not what you're here for?"

"Yeah, no. I don't think trying to commit suicide by dragon sounds like fun. We're here for the challenge!"

"If you two start trying to argue again, I'm going to knock the both of you out and kill this thing myself," Celes said warningly. Roxas snickered. "Let's try focusing on the dragon before it wakes up and decides to eat us while we're not paying attention."

"Okay, okay," Locke said, only pouting a little bit. "So you and Roxas hit the thing with your magic, then Sora and I will sneak up behind it and poke it in the butt with sharp objects. I think we got this covered."

"I'm very good at poking things," Sora added seriously.

"On second thought, let's leave the two of _them_ behind," Roxas suggested dryly, grinning when Sora punched him in the arm. "I think they're going to get us killed."

Celes rolled her eyes at all three of them, then gestured for Roxas to go with her as she stepped back into the entrance of the next cavern and looked out at the dragon. It was laying in the same position they had left it in, but the rumbling had gotten louder. Roxas hoped that meant the thing was in a deeper stage of sleep than it had been before, because he really didn't want it to wake up as he was casting the Summon's magic.

"On three then?" Celes suggested quietly. As soon as Roxas nodded, she began the countdown. Roxas felt Sora come up behind him, patting his shoulder encouragingly, but he didn't respond.

"Three!"

Roxas and Celes both ran out into the open area in the cave, calling on their magic as they went. The dragon snorted itself awake when they were about halfway across, but by then it was too late: Celes had already released her strongest spell, encasing the front half of the dragon in ice. Roxas followed up with his own attack only seconds after, sliding to a halt as huge chunks of ice appeared alongside the edges of his keyblades. With two strong downward swipes, the ice flew off the edges and towards the dragon. They went straight through Celes' spell, but they barely penetrated the dragon's thick hide. It still screamed, though, which Roxas took as a good sign—especially since it apparently didn't notice Locke and Sora coming around its sides.

Locke had somehow already gotten onto the dragon's back, daggers in his hands as he made for the thing's head. Sora was still on the ground at its feet, carving into its skin with his keyblades in an attempt to wear it down before it could break free from its ice prison.

"This is going too well," Celes said from beside Roxas. "Last time that thing broke free right way!"

"Maybe you've gotten stronger," Roxas suggested. "Don't ask questions, just prepare another spell." He was already straining to call the ice onto his keyblades again; normally, magic came fairly easy to him, but now that he wasn't actually using his own powers, it didn't seem to want to be cast. He got it eventually, though, and flung the ice shards at the dragon again—

Just as the damn thing broke free. The ice bounced harmlessly off of it as it shook vigorously in an attempt to throw Locke off of its head. Locke hung on grimly, though, and somehow managed to keep moving forward until it was finally at the dragon's eyes. He thrust a a dagger into one eye, and the dragon screamed again; it thrashed in agony, and Locke went flying. Sora, meanwhile, was trying to backpedal out of the way of the dragon's various limbs. He wasn't _quite_ fast enough to dodge them all, though; one paw only barely hit him, but he still went flying and crashed into the wall. Roxas could see a bloody line on his brother's side, and his eyes narrowed as Sora collapsed to the ground with a hand covering the wound.

"Cast your damn spell again, Celes!" Roxas snarled, and took off running toward the dragon without waiting for a response. The magic came more easily to him this time, fueled by his anger, but he didn't release it. Instead he allowed the ice to wrap entirely around the blades, though it covered his hands in the process. The dragon had stopped flailing by this point, and was eyeing Roxas hungrily as he ran up to it; then it was taking a deep breath, pulling oxygen out of the air.

"Roxas, look out!" Celes called. But Roxas didn't listen to her; he could feel that she'd released her spell, and Roxas jumped _into_ it seconds before the dragon spewed fire over him. The ice prison that had briefly held the dragon in place shimmered into existence around Roxas only to be melted by the dragon's flaming breath, but it held strong long enough for Roxas to get through it.

The dragon even looked surprised as he came through the fire unscathed. It didn't have a chance to change its expression before Roxas hit it, though: he released the shards of ice from his weapon at the same time as he forced light to explode in front of him. It was the strongest combination of spells Roxas had ever cast, and when it was over, all he could do was crumple helplessly onto the ground. The dragon lasted for only a moment longer before it, too, was falling. Luckily for Roxas, it shimmered into non-existence right before it would have fallen on him, and all that happened was that he was hit on the head by a piece of magicite.

"Holy _shit_," Locke said from somewhere off to the side. Roxas barely managed to raise his head high enough to give him a curious look. "Remind me to never, ever get you mad."

Roxas chuckled weakly. "Locke," he said, "don't ever piss me off." Then, predictably enough, he passed out.

* * *

A/N: I kept trying really really hard to include Donald and Goofy in this chapter, but Locke stole like the entire scene. What a diva.

(P.S. I think it's really cute that some of you thought Axel was going to come back already. C'mon, people, you call that _drama_?)


	33. Chapter 33: If it Wasn't For Bad Luck

A/N: Good news! My internet appears to have magically fixed itself! Which is probably obvious, seeing as I'm posting the chapter and everything. Yeahhh. So unless something happens (which, you know, it probably will), the next chapter should be out before the tenth, and then...we'll go from there, because after that it depends on how fast I write. And how much I get distracted by shinies. And baking. And, uh, more school. Yeah.

Warnings: Oh...nothing. (I would have an evil smiley here, but the site keeps deleting it.)

Disclaimer: I own...nothing! Yup. Biiiig surprise there.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirty-Three: If It Wasn't For Bad Luck_

They were still in the same cave when Roxas woke up. Sora was hovering over him anxiously, and poking him in the side with the keyblade. When he saw that Roxas was awake, though, the poking immediately stopped, and he grinned widely.

"You need to stop showing off," he said. Roxas was starting to get tired of hearing that.

Unfortunately, his head started swimming as he sat up, and he had to forgo his response to Sora in favor of digging out an Ether. Locke and Celes came wandering over as he downed it; Locke was grinning, but Celes had a faintly worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay, Roxas?" she asked as Locke pulled Roxas to his feet. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone pass out like that from using too much magic."

"Yeah, that was probably a bad idea," Roxas said casually. The problem with magic was that it was part of what kept you alive, he knew; use too much of it, and there'd be no way for you to recover. He'd come very close to that point. He didn't say that out loud, though. "But I'm fine. How long was I out?"

"Not that long," Locke said. "Sora came running over pretty quickly, and he cast some sort of healing magic on you. I guess that must have done _some_ good, because you looked significantly less like a corpse when he was done."

"I was really really worried," Sora said earnestly, yanking Roxas away from Locke and pulling him into a hug. Roxas let him, and even returned the hug, but he still rolled his eyes at the manhandling. "Everyone wanted to go check out the next area, but there was no way I was going to go anywhere until I was sure you were okay. I've literally seen dead people who looked more alive than you did!"

"I just used a bit too much magic, Sora; I was fine." He hadn't been fine, but Sora definitely didn't need to know that. "You should have gone in anyway."

"It didn't look like you were fine to me," Goofy said worriedly, the expression on his face far too knowing for Roxas' comfort. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised though; Disneans were well-known for their knowledge of magic. Goofy didn't use any himself, but he was close enough to Donald that he probably knew more than the average knight. "I dunno if you should be doing anything right now."

"I'm _fine_," Roxas repeated irritably. He understood that the others were worried about him, but this was ridiculous. Nobody in the Organization—not even Axel—would have kept pushing him once he'd said he was fine. It wasn't that they didn't worry; it was just that the others assumed you knew what you could and couldn't handle. Once you said you were fine the subject was dropped, if only temporarily. Holding everyone back in the field was dangerous, left you open to attack and discovery: it was better to keep an eye on the injured party and continue on until you were somewhere safe.

Unfortunately, it clearly didn't work that way with this particular group of people. He sighed heavily as they continued staring at him in concern. "Look," he said, slowly because he didn't really want to admit this, "I used way too much magic, and I'm exhausted and sore—"

"You should rest!" Sora interrupted earnestly. "We can stay the night in the safe area."

"And in the meantime, what happens to Twilight Town?" Roxas asked pointedly. "Are you going to risk the Heartless overrunning the town while we're out here taking a break? We're getting your weapon, then going back and taking care of whatever's in that mansion."

"But—"

"Let him do what he wants," Donald interrupted, wandering over from whatever he'd been doing (Roxas couldn't really be bothered to care). But the duck was giving him a shrewd look, and Roxas was positive the ornery mage knew exactly how close he'd come to dying. "We need to get back as soon as possible, and if he says he's fine we've got to trust him."

Sora still didn't look entirely convinced, but he gave Roxas one last scowl and started walking over to the cavern the dragon had been guarding anyway. Roxas frowned after him, then turned to Donald, who was still giving him the same look. But Roxas thought they had something of an understanding now, so he gave the duck a sharp nod before following after his brother.

The others were already opening a few of the chests when Roxas finally entered. Locke was gleefully shoving what looked like a handful of magacite into his pockets while Celes shook her head at him, and Goofy appeared to be examining a new shield. When the dogman saw Donald, he beamed and held up a staff that the mage ran over to retrieve. But Sora was just staring at the largest chest and showing absolutely no signs of opening it. He didn't even turn to Roxas when he walked up, so Roxas silently joined him and waited for Sora to talk.

"I know things are different down here and you can take care of yourself," Sora eventually said, softly enough that he wouldn't be overheard by anyone else, "but I can't help but worry. I lost you for three years, and I don't want to lose you again."

Roxas allowed himself a smile in response, and ruffled his brother's hair. Sora swatted at him half-heartedly, then finally turned to Roxas with a frown on his face. "I'm not going to leave you if I can help it," Roxas assured him. "I didn't hunt you down just to die on you, okay?""

"You better not die," Sora muttered as he finally pointed his keyblade at the large chest to open it. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."

"Would it help if I promised to haunt you?" Roxas asked cheekily, hoping to cheer Sora up. He wasn't sure if it really helped; Sora only swatted at him again in response before moving forward to investigate the contents of the chest they'd been standing in front of. There were a few odds and ends he didn't take much interest in, mostly a collection of bottles and a small bag that was probably full of munny, before finally finding what they'd come for: a small, pointy keychain. Roxas only caught a glimpse of it before Sora turned away.

"Guys, I've got it!" Sora called over to Goofy and Donald, waving it in the air. The two Disneans came jogging over, and Sora passed it over to Donald without prompting. "This is the right one, right? It looks a lot different than you said it would."

"It's got the right attributes," Donald responded slowly, turning it over in his hand as he peered at it. "Strong magic, strong element..."

"It looks real familiar," Goofy murmured as he leaned over Donald's shoulder to inspect it himself. "Dunno where from, though."

"I don't recognize it at all," Sora said. "Which is kind of weird, isn't it? You said they change according to what's in my heart, but I've never seen anything like that before. I don't even know anybody who uses fire!"

"Maybe it'll help if you put it on," Donald suggested, handing the keychain back over to Sora. Sora inspected it again for a long moment before he finally shrugged and took the old keychain off the keyblade. The blade turned immediately back to what Sora called the "Kingdom Key", apparently the thing's default appearance, and then Sora clicked the new one on. Fire flared up around the blade for a brief moment, but once it was visible again Roxas was forced to bite his lip to keep from gasping out loud.

At the tip of the keyblade was a small version of Axel's chakram. There was absolutely no mistaking it. How many times had he seen one go flying by him out of the corner of his eye, taking care of an enemy that he'd been unaware of? How many times had he caught the damn thing himself while sparring with his boyfriend? He knew every nick on each chakram as well as he knew his own keyblades, and except for the one open side, the blade was identical to them.

The question was what it was doing on _Sora's_ keyblade. Axel couldn't be in his heart; Sora had never even met him! He supposed it could have something to do with them being twins, but that was a far cry from sharing a heart. Could their connection possibly be that strong?

"Are you all right, Roxas?" Celes' musical voice came from somewhere behind him, nearly making him jump. He almost turned to glare at her, afraid that Sora might have heard the soft question, but stopped himself as he realized that her voice had been soft enough that there was no way his brother would have heard. Especially as he seemed so enthralled with the blade he now wielded; he was busy casting fire spells that even Roxas could see were much stronger than anything he'd managed before. "It looks a lot like Axel's weapons."

"Yeah," Roxas replied faintly, then shook his head to clear it. He leveled Celes with the glare he'd held back before and said, "Don't even think about saying anything to Sora. If Donald and Goofy realize where they've seen the weapon before..."

Celes gave him an unimpressed look. "You should tell him who you are," she said without agreeing. "The Organization isn't a secret that you'll be able to keep forever."

"I'm not planning on keeping it forever," Roxas muttered. "If nothing else, Axel's bound to show up eventually."

Celes looked like she was going to say something in response, but Sora turned to them before she could. There was a huge grin on his face, and he looked like he was strumming with even more energy than usual.

"This blade is _awesome_," he said cheerfully, waving it around. "Did you know it's possible to store some of your magic in keyblades? If I use too much, I can just pull it out!"

"That's...different," Roxas replied uncertainly, holding out a hand for the weapon. Sora cheerfully passed it over to him, rocking back on his heels as Roxas gently ran his hands over the weapon. He could feel the power radiating off of it, much stronger than he expected, and the entire thing was warm to the touch. A side effect of its element, maybe? "I wonder why it took this form?"

"I'll figure it out eventually," Sora replied without concern. "Maybe I'm just forgetting something, you know? Anyway, we should head back. I _know_ we can get rid of those Heartless in the mansion now!"

"I don't think we needed this thing to take whatever's in there down." Roxas smirked as he tossed the keyblade back to Sora. "You depend too much on fancy weaponry."

"You're just jealous that your keyblades are one-trick ponies." Sora was quick to dodge the swat Roxas aimed at him, but he missed the kick that came after.

"Boys," Celes sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head. "I thought you two were in a hurry?"

"Oh right!" Sora flailed. "We should definitely go now if we're not going to rest here. All the chests and stuff have been opened, right?"

"I'm good," Locke replied smugly, patting at his pockets. "I think this lot will hold me over for a while."

"A few days, at any rate," Celes muttered, rolling her eyes as Locke stuck his tongue out at her. "Anyway, I think Locke and I will just go ahead and spend the night here. I'm a little tired."

"Awww, okay," Sora pouted, then turned to Donald and Goofy. "You guys ready to go? I want to get back and take care of the mansion before Roxas' stubbornness runs out."

"You've got plenty of time, then," Locke said, grinning at Roxas' annoyed look. "He'll drop before that happens."

"I'm fine," Roxas growled yet again. If he had to say that one more time, somebody was going to get hurt. He thought they'd gotten over that!

"Uh huh," Sora said noncommittally, utterly ignoring the glare he received. Roxas huffed irritably, and stalked off toward the entrance. He heard Sora sigh behind him before everyone started rushing after him, but he didn't slow down. If his brother wanted to be in a rush on his account, then they would all just have to keep up.

"Okay, _now_ can we slow down?" Sora asked grumpily as they got to the entrance of the caverns. "I get it, okay? There's nothing wrong, you're perfectly fine, you could probably take another dragon on if another one showed up—"

"The dragon might be pushing it a little," Roxas smirked.

"Shut up, I'm trying to make a point here!" Sora wailed, waving the hand holding his keyblade in the air. "I will hit you with this blade if you don't cut it out. I mean it."

"Well, you'd _try_ to."

"I'll even give you a head start," Sora growled, raising the keyblade in a threatening gesture. Roxas laughed in response, blew Sora a kiss—an annoying response to threats that he'd picked up from Demyx—and then took off running. Sora yelled something that he probably thought was a war cry and chased after him; he caught up as they burst out into the sunlight but didn't swing at Roxas. Sora tackled him instead, sending them both to the ground in a puff of dust.

"Gotcha!" Sora crowed, sitting up on his back. "You thought you could escape the great Keyblade Master, but now I shall show you—oh, hey, Cloud!"

_Cloud?_ Roxas thought with confusion as Sora jumped off his back. Surely his brother hadn't gotten so ridiculous that he'd started talking to water vapor? Upon looking up, he was relieved to discover that that wasn't the case; the blond man that had given Roxas the ride to Twilight Town was leaning against a second Gummi ship that had landed beside Sora's. Not that this wasn't strange in and of itself. It was just a much better alternative to his original thought.

Roxas kept his eyes on Cloud and his brother as he stood up, finding his relief quickly fading. The two of them obviously knew each other—how, Roxas didn't know and wasn't certain he cared—which meant that Cloud was bound to call him by the false name Roxas had given him. The same name, in fact, that he'd given to Riku after their fight. Well, shit. This was bound to need damage control.

But before he could even finish berating himself, he found himself grabbed from behind. He responded without thought, swinging around to punch his attacker—only to find himself kicked in the stomach quickly enough that he knew the move had been expected. He normally recovered even from a blow like this much faster than any enemy ever expected, but despite all of his assurances to the group in the caverns, he really _wasn't_ fine. His arms were behind his back in a grip too strong for him to break free from, and he could only stare in dismay as the bracelet he'd worn for three years was dropped to the ground.

"Hello, Thirteen," Leon's monotone voice said blandly. Roxas took a deep breath as every curse he knew started filtering through his head. Riku had clearly spread rumors about him, smart as he was, so by now everybody in the Underground must know his name—false or real, he didn't know and didn't much care. How the hell had he been so stupid?

"Roxas?" Sora's voice asked, much too calmly. Roxas looked up at him, at his wide eyes and the keyblade gripped too tightly in his hand, and forced his face into an expressionless mask. "Is it true? Are you really with the Organization?"

Sora's voice wavered on the last word, his uncertainty and anger clear to Roxas even if it wasn't clear to anyone else, and Roxas bit back a sigh. Sora wasn't going to be okay with this—of course he wasn't, how could _anyone_ be okay with finding out their brother was a murderer?—and that meant that Roxas' time with him was over.

Well. At least it'd been fun while it lasted. He just wished he'd have gotten to see Axel again first.

* * *

A/N: Dun dun DUN! Oh, wait, the sound effects probably weren't necessary, were they?

(Random note: the title? The full line goes "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." The blues, guys. You all need to listen to the blues.)


	34. Chapter 34: Never Existed At All

A/N: Okay, I'll admit that this chapter is all talk. But I hope I managed to pull some emotion out of it, at least! Also: look, a chapter that's actually out when I said it was going to be! Yayyyy!

Warnings: PLEASE READ THESE. There are mentions of child abuse in this chapter! I don't go into any detail of the abuse itself, but...it's there. Yeah.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything, because I fail at the universe. Le sigh.

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

* * *

_Chapter Thirty-Four: Never Existed At All_

"I told you, he called himself Ven," Cloud said sharply into the silence that followed. "Though I doubt that's his real name either."

"It isn't his name, because his name's Roxas!" Sora snapped back at him. "I think I can recognize my own brother, even if he _is_ keeping secrets from me."

"You told us he died when your house burnt down," Leon said flatly. "If it was burnt by the Organization—and what you said matches with the way they work, no evidence even of what started the fire—then Six could have made an illusion that looked like your brother."

"Even Six's illusions aren't _this_ good," Roxas muttered, wincing as Leon twisted his arm a little in an obvious attempt to make him shut up. "This would require constant upkeep, and even if he had enough magic built up to keep it going, it would still fail eventually. Even he needs to sleep."

"I hear one of them's good at making clones," Cloud said.

Roxas snorted. "What, and you think Four would let his precious babies out of his sight this long? And to follow around the Keyblade Master of all people? I don't think so."

"So you really are the Thirteenth?" Sora asked disbelievingly. "You—you've killed people and blown stuff up and...all those other things? They say you can kill pictomancy, that you escaped Shadow, that you don't have any emotions at all and you're barely even human—"

"Yes, thank you, I know the stories," Roxas interrupted dryly. Sora scowled at him. "And yes, that's me. I'd show you the tattoo, but I'm a little held up."

"I can't believe this," Sora moaned, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. When he dropped it again, he looked suddenly much older, more grim. It was similar to the look he'd had when the Heartless had attacked them in the Gummi ship, and Roxas' stomach turned at the knowledge that he'd brought it on. "How did they even get you to do that? I just can't imagine the you from three years ago even considering joining a gang, let alone this!"

"How can you still believe he's your brother?" Cloud asked, sounding exasperated. "You said he was dead, that the investigators had found his body in the bed, and then all of a sudden he shows up three years later perfectly healthy? That's not even remotely plausible."

"He has his keyblades," Sora replied stubbornly. "And the bracelet I bought him. And he's improved a lot, but he still fights the same. And his personality hasn't changed that much..."

"Stolen and mimicked," Leon dismissed with a sharp hand gesture.

"There are all kinds of things that can be done with strong enough magic and technology," Cloud said more gently. "I've seen false keyblades before, and you can force them to bond with someone they normally wouldn't. Sora, you can't prove anything with that."

"What about memories?" Sora asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. "He could tell me something that only we know, right? Memories can't be transferred!"

"They can't," Leon agreed reluctantly. "But it has to be something that would have been kept secret from even your best friends since the two of them are missing—"

"Oh, that's easy!" Sora said brightly, but something in his voice was off. Roxas stared at him curiously. "I mean, I usually told Riku and Kairi everything, but there were a couple secrets that I kept."

"Could have fooled me," Roxas muttered, but Sora didn't rise to the gentle teasing. Instead he just gave Roxas a weary smile and asked the absolute last thing Roxas had expected:

"Why did you leave?"

Roxas could feel the blood drain from his face, leaving him suddenly light-headed. "I never even told you I was leaving. I could say anything; that isn't going to prove that I'm your brother." But Sora was just looking at him, his face still showing the same tiredness, but his eyes held a painful understanding that Roxas could never have expected. "You know," Roxas said faintly.

"Yeah," Sora replied softly. "I know."

"...Know what?" Leon asked, but was summarily ignored.

"I don't _understand_ it, though," Sora continued. "He never even so much as looked at me funny. But you—I was so _mad_ when I found out, but I didn't know what to do. Why would he even...?"

The silence lingered for a long moment as Roxas willed himself to answer. He'd never talked about this to anyone, not even when Axel asked about his fading bruises at the end of Roxas' first week with the Organization. Axel knew the basics, of course, all two words that Roxas had said in response, but the man had never asked for more. And now here he was surrounded by people he didn't really know or like, and Sora was clearly expecting an answer—

"He blamed me for mom," Roxas finally blurted out, turning his face to the ground so he didn't have to see the look on anyone's face. "He used to—before she died, it wasn't so bad. Just words. But then she was gone and—" Roxas felt Leon let go of him, and he took a deep breath to steady himself as his legs threatened to give out. "You weren't supposed to know."

"It took me a while to figure it out," Sora admitted softly. "I only knew a few months before the house burnt down—you remember when I got that job?-and I didn't know what to do. It just didn't make any sense, that he only went after you, and just...I don't know."

"Do you remember the story mom used to tell us, about how they hadn't known I was there?" Roxas asked after a heavy pause. Sora nodded silently, looking confused. "Well, she used to tell me more sometimes when I couldn't sleep. She would say that when you were about to be born, she could feel part of you slipping away, that she was so scared that she was going to lose you that she put all her heart into keeping you whole. She said she almost failed, that you slipped from her for a brief moment and she felt something inside her break. In her panic, she somehow managed to grab hold of the piece of you that was drifting away and put it back where it belonged—and that as she did so, she knew that something had gone wrong even though you were still alive.

"She would tell me that the break she felt was me coming into existence, and that without me she'd never have been able to succeed. I think dad thought that it was the start of my existence that had caused that piece of you to try to pull away. I wasn't real, he'd say. So since I wasn't real, and it was my existence that hurt her..."

"That's the most messed up thing I've ever heard," Sora said once he seemed to realize Roxas wasn't going to say any more, but Roxas wasn't really listening. He found himself staring at the ground without seeing it, running over the story again and connecting it with all of the strange things creatures had said to him over the years, with everything that he'd learned since coming to the Underground, and could only come up with one conclusion. "I mean, how could you have just appeared like that?"

"It could happen if it was _your_ _heart_ that had been slipping away," Roxas said slowly, and found himself lifting his arm to stare at the tattoo on his wrist. This, then, is why he had worked out so well with the Organization. Why he'd been able to so easily become Number Thirteen, why he could shut off his emotions so easily, why he'd been able to hold back from Axel to begin with. "Your heart got away and you were almost a Heartless. When the Heartless forms, it leaves a shell behind. So even though you got your heart back, mom mustn't have been able to merge you back together with it again..."

"What are you saying?" Sora asked.

"He's saying that he's a Nobody," Cloud said before Roxas could answer. "That he really shouldn't exist, because technically he's the same person as you."

"Don't say that!" Sora yelled at him. "Of _course_ he's supposed to exist, otherwise he wouldn't be here. And he's not me. We're really close, but we've got practically nothing in common."

"Cloud's right," Roxas interrupted. "There's no other explanation for it. And it explains the new look of your keyblade too. The design is a copy of my partner's weapon, and he's got ridiculously strong fire magic. The keyblade must have felt my feelings for him in your heart and adjusted itself."

"If this is true, then we should merge you two back together," Leon said flatly. "Nobodies are dangerous—"

"No!" Sora interrupted. "He's my _brother_!"

"He's a Nobody. They don't exist naturally, and when they come into existence they lose all humanity since they have no heart."

"And I'm sure _you're_ the expert on Nobodies, aren't you?" Roxas asked, trying not to sneer and knowing he was failing. "I suppose you read all of Ansem's work? He calls himself the expert on Nobodies, but he didn't spend enough time with them to have _studied_ them properly." He'd spit out the word 'studied' like it had tasted bad, and in a way it had. There were a lot of things Roxas knew that the Superior would have preferred to have kept from him, but Axel told him absolutely everything. Including the things that the rest of the Organization wasn't aware he knew.

"I suppose you think you know better, then?" Cloud asked.

"I've known a few Nobodies," Roxas replied blandly, "including the Nobodies that Ansem was originally familiar with. His description of them was decidedly...lacking."

"Because you think Nobodies can feel?"

"Because I _know_ they can. Unless I've been imagining my own feelings my entire life, or my companions have just been pretending really well for the past three years."

"You can't tell me Roxas doesn't have emotions," Sora said quietly. "I've known him all his life, remember? I don't think little kids can pretend to have emotions like adults can, and besides, the thing with...with dad, uh, upset him. Right? So if Roxas is a Nobody, and Roxas has emotions, then how can you just say that Nobodies don't have emotions?"

"Roxas _is_ different, though," Cloud insisted. "Because he still has a connection to his heart. He has _you_, and you're the strongest heart in existence. For the rest of them—"

"You're wrong," Roxas interrupted flatly. "And I'm done listening to this shit. Let's go, Sora."

"Yeah, okay," Sora muttered, following after him. Roxas was pretty sure he heard Donald and Goofy fall into step with them as well, but he didn't really care.

"Sora, wait!" Leon called, but both of them ignored him. They climbed into the Gummi ship silently, and Sora barely left enough time for the two Disneans to get on board before he took off. Silence reigned in the cabin for a long while as Roxas stared blankly out the window closest to him, trying not to think about what had just happened. But of course it wasn't going to last.

"So," Sora started eventually, sighing after the word as if it had been difficult to say. There was another short silence as Sora clearly waited for Roxas to respond, but Roxas stubbornly remained silent, so he continued with obvious reluctance. "So, the Organization. Why'd you join them? I haven't heard anything good about them at all."

"They're not all bad," Roxas defended almost reflexively. "I won't pretend we're all great people, and some of us are worse than others, but after I left they were all I had. That's how it was for most of us. Some of us had one or two people outside of the gang, but for the most part... Anyway, the guy I hired for the house, he turned out to be a member. Talked me into joining, and I ended up becoming his partner."

"So you didn't mean to join them at first?" Sora sounded relieved, and smiled a little when Roxas shook his head. "What were you going to do?"

"...I hadn't really thought about it," Roxas lied blandly. There was no way he was going to tell Sora that he hadn't intended to live through the night originally. His brother had probably had enough unpleasant shocks already today. "The most important thing was getting away from that life, you know? I guess I sort of figured everything else would just follow. The Organization was at least some sort of direction, and Axel was, uh, really persuasive."

He just wasn't going to tell Sora _how _Axel had persuaded him to join. That was another revelation that didn't need to be aired right now. How many secrets was he keeping from Sora? Honestly, this was getting ridiculous. Maybe he should just give him the heart attack and get it over with.

"Did Celes and Locke know you guys were Organization?" Sora asked. "I thought it was weird that you seemed to know each other well but weren't friends. But I thought nobody knew the Organizaton's real names."

"There's a surprising amount of people who know us," Roxas replied dryly. "Locke and Celes only know me and Axel, as far as I know, but their friend Strago recognized at least Number Two. Axel's brother knows all of us by name even if he doesn't like half of them, and Ten gambles with the Gullwings and Setzer pretty regularly. There's probably people I don't even know about as well, but it's not a big deal. We find ways of keeping them quiet. Sometimes it's just a matter of them knowing that if they leak our identities out, we _will_ find them and kill them.

"Which reminds me, don't even think about telling your friends Axel's name." Ignoring Sora's startled look, he turned to the surprisingly silent Donald and Goofy to include them in his look. "I already told you he's my best friend; my leaving the Organization hasn't changed that. I'm not going to betray him now, and that includes spreading his name around outside of the Organization. I'm already annoyed that Locke blurted it out to you lot, but I trust Sora, so I'll have to trust you two as well. But I'm _not_ going to trust Leon and Cloud."

"But if I just explain to them—"

"I don't want to hear it, Sora," Roxas interrupted him impatiently. "There's a reason the Organization goes by numbers, and it's not because we think it's cool. You don't even think his name, okay? If I have any reason to suspect that they know it, I'll leave. I've seen that you're fine, Sora, but if his identity becomes public, he won't be."

"Okay," Sora said quietly. "I won't say anything. We won't. Okay, guys?"

"Fine," Donald said shortly, with Goofy nodding behind him. "But the rest of the Organization—"

"I'm not here to betray them either," Roxas said flatly. "I won't pretend that they mean as much to me as Axel does—hell, I won't even pretend to _like_ them all—but they were my family for the past three years. You can ask whatever you want, but don't expect any answers."

* * *

DISCLAIMER THE SECOND: Roxas' response to child abuse is neither appropriate nor healthy. If you or someone you know is currently or has been a victim of child abuse, please please do not take matters into your own hands. Tell a trusted adult or the authorities, and make sure you or that person gets professional therapy. Even if the abuse is only suspected, please try to get help. It isn't something that can be ignored or something that just goes away. The same can be said of _any_ type of abuse. Be careful, get help, and don't try to ignore it. Roxas is a fictional, magical character, and he does fictional, magical things. Don't try to be him. Thank you.

A/N: Soooo here's where I really start screwing with the mythology of the Heartless and what-have-you. Because it's an alternate universe, and that doesn't just mean that the layout of the worlds changed, okay? I DO WHAT I WANT. Also, this way is more fun. Now to get around to actually writing the next chapter. Sigh.


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